These are IMF projections for the world's economies

These are IMF projections for the world's economies
According to its semi-annual report on the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2018 and 2019 despite facing growing risks such as US-China trade tensions.
After reaching 3.8 percent in 2017, global GDP is expected to rise to 3.9 percent, unchanged from previous forecasts in January, according to the report.
Nearly 10 years after the start of the global recession, the world economy is growing at a rapid pace led by developed economies as well as emerging and developing countries.
For 2018, expectations for the United States rose 2.9 percent, boosted by tax reforms, 2.4 percent for the euro area, notably Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and for Brazil (2.3 percent).
The International Monetary Fund has also drawn strong performance from Japan and China, with growth forecasts of 1.2 percent for the first and 6.6 percent for the second.
The fund released forecasts as thousands of global financial officials gathered in Washington for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank this week.
The fund has slightly reduced its growth prospects in Canada, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a number of low-income developing countries.
He said that the prospects for per capita income growth in developing economies will face difficulties over the next five years, especially in commodity exporters in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The global economy continues to show great momentum," said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld. "But behind this positive picture, the prospect of a trade dispute looms."
Since March, the United States has increased its protectionist measures. After taxes of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports, and announced its intention to respond to China to compensate for "unfair" business practices.
Washington accuses Beijing of "forcibly transferring US technology" and "stealing intellectual property."
The Asian giant quickly responded by announcing measures against major US imports.
But the measures have not yet been implemented.
But Obstfeld said protectionism involves "undermining trust" and "prematurely disrupting global growth."
"There is a contradiction between the fact that major economies risk a trade war and coincide with economic expansion," while growth is closely linked to investment and trade.
The volume of trade in goods and services worldwide is expected to increase by 5.1 percent this year after registering 4.9 percent last year.
In the short term, the risk of growth remains somewhat limited by the International Monetary Fund, which points to a series of long-term threats.
"Developed economies face aging populations, low labor market participation and poor productivity growth," he said.
Opstfeld stressed the need for commodity exporters to diversify their economies if they wanted to further expand their scope, as well as their ability to adapt in the event of a crisis.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the importance of geopolitical risks, as in Libya, Venezuela and Yemen, should not be underestimated as an example