WASHINGTON, Broadcasting News Corporation : The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its outlook for the world economy for 2023, citing a long list of threats that include Russia’s war against Ukraine, chronic inflation pressures, punishing interest rates and the lingering consequences of the global pandemic. The lending agency forecast on Tuesday that the global economy would eke out growth of just 2.7 percent next year, down from the 2.9 percent it had estimated in July. The IMF left unchanged its forecast for international growth this year — a modest 3.2 percent, a sharp deceleration from last year’s 6 percent expansion. “The global environment is fragile with storm clouds on the horizon,” the report stated. Lingering market vulnerabilities, tightening liquidity, stubborn inflation and ongoing efforts by central banks worldwide to raise rates to combat it have combined to create a volatile and risky environment, the report stated. “With investors aggressively pulling back from risk-taking recently as they reassess their economic and policy outlook, there is a danger of a disorderly repricing of risk,” the report stated. “In particular, volatility and a sudden tightening in financial conditions could interact with, and be amplified by, preexisting financial vulnerabilities.” The IMF warned that any sharp downturn would be acutely felt by emerging market economies, where they are grappling with a “multitude of risks” like high borrowing costs, high inflation, and volatile commodity markets. The IMF also cautioned that credit spreads have widened substantially in the corporate sector, and higher rates could adversely impact housing markets. NEWS COLLECTED FROM ARAB NEWS.