IMF cut its US 2016 GDP growth forecast from 2.4% to 2.2% - Rabobank

Michael Every, Head of Financial Markets Research at Rabobank, notes that the IMF has just cut its US 2016 GDP growth forecast from 2.4% to 2.2%.

Key Quotes

“IMF warned that the US risks a future of low growth due an ageing population (though participation rates among the elderly are rising, not falling if one looks); stalling productivity and lack of investment (not helped by corporate borrowing being ploughed into share buybacks rather than capital stock or training workers); and rising inequality and poverty, now including one in seven people and one in five children: those in poverty don’t tend to spend much.

The IMF also noted that the USD is “10 to 20% over-valued” on a broad basis: that will not go down well in China as it busily tries to weaken CNY, now down 6.9% on vs. its trade-weighted basket since end-November, or in Europe, which needs a stronger EUR right now as much as it needs another referendum.”