The IMF said on Thursday it was scaling back its projections for economic growth in the US and Europe following recent turmoil on global stock markets tied to the US housing downturn.
Rising US home foreclosures and a persistent housing slump have triggered a US credit crunch, which has unsettled global markets and raised concerns about a possible US economic slowdown.
"There will be some downward revision to our growth projection, more so next year than this year," IMF spokesman Masood Ahmed told reporters at a briefing.
"We can already say that the downward revisions are likely to be the largest for the US, but we will also see some impact in the euro area," he said.
The spokesman did not reveal how much the IMF expected to trim its growth estimates, but said fresh assumptions would likely be released mid next month ahead of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings.
In a July report, the IMF revised higher its projections for global growth this year and next year to an annualized clip of 5.2 percent, compared with a prior estimate of 4.9 percent.
It also cut its US GDP forecast for this year to an annualized 2 percent, down from 2.2 percent, while maintaining its expected growth outlook of 2.8 percent for next year.
Eurozone growth was pegged at 2.6 percent this year and a slightly tamer 2.5 percent next year.
US growth accelerated to 4 percent in the second quarter, but home sales have continued to tumble since then as home foreclosures have also mounted.
Some economists say the US housing market will remain mired in a slump next year.
Despite this, Ahmed said IMF economists "envisage a relatively strong global growth performance continuing."
He said the weakened outlook would also likely affect the IMF's growth projections for some emerging markets.
The July report had pegged expected growth in China at 11.2 percent, and India and Russia's assumed growth at 9 percent and 7 percent respectively.
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