Asia must adapt to 'new world' despite recovery: IMF

OTTAWA — While Canada’s economy should pick up later this year, there are external and domestic threats that — if unchecked — could make a case for more interest rate cuts, according to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF said in a report Thursday that Canada’s economy will grow by 1.8% in 2013, hobbled by a weak second-half handover from the previous year. But gross domestic product is expected to speed up “thanks to the strengthening of the U.S. economy from mid-2013,” with the IMF pegging Canadian growth at 2.3% for 2014.

As the global recession deepens, bad news in Asia continues to mount. China and Japan are leading the Asia-Pacific decline. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI™ is negative once again with Output down at Sharpest rate in Ten Months. Key Points Flash China Manufacturing PMI™ at 47.8 (47.6 in August). 2-month high. Flash China Manufacturing Output Index at 47.0 (48.2 in August). 10-month low.

Guest blog post by Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, International Trade AdministrationThis week I’m in Singapore leading a delegation of fifteen small and medium sized U.S. aerospace companies to the 2012 Singapore Air Show. The delegation is part of the overall presence of U.S. companies at the U.S. International Pavilion, which this year featured more than 70 companies, 27 of whom are first time exhibitors. In total, more than 170 U.S. companies are exhibiting at the air show, which is Asia’s largest aerospace and defense event and one of the top three air shows in the world.One of the highlights of my trip was witnessing a signing ceremony between Boeing and Indonesia’s Lion Air. Lion Air has agreed to buy 230 new 737-model aircraft from Boeing, valued at $21.7 billion, making it the largest commercial deal in company history. The sale is estimated to support 110,000 industrial jobs in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will likely cut its growth forecasts for the United States and the global economy if automatic U.S. spending cuts take effect on Friday, and warned that the U.S.’s biggest trading partners would be hardest hit. IMF spokesman William Murray said that if the cuts are fully implemented, the IMF would likely shave at least 0.5 percentage point off its current forecast of 2% growth for the U.S. in 2013.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan Africa's economies will expand at a slower rate in 2012 than earlier projected, undermined by global financial distress and a sluggish recovery in South Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday. Africa's growth has remained above 5 percent in the last eight years, underpinned by strong prices for its natural resources, better governance and growing disposable incomes. In its latest Regional Economic Outlook, the IMF forecast 5.4 percent growth this year from 5.1 percent in 2011. Its previous projections were 5.9 and 5. ...