IMF Members Fear Sluggish Economy Looms Ahead

Members of the International Monetary Fund warned on Saturday that the world's economies are facing a slow growth and are failing to recover from the 2008 global crisis.

"A number of countries face the prospect of low or slowing growth, with unemployment remaining unacceptably high," the International Monetary and Financial Committee said on behalf of the Fund's 188 member countries, during the IMF's fall meetings in Washington.

The members do not expect a crisis in the immediate future, but the global economic panorama is not very optimistic for the markets. For instance, Japan's economy is floundering, China has stopped growing at a rate of double-digits, and some European Union countries are not recovering fast enough to avoid a recession.

Even some economies that have been solid so far are struggling to keep the growth pace. Last week German exports plunged by 5.8 percent in August, the latest sign that Europe's largest economy is suffering a dramatic slowdown.

After the trade data was released, Germany's growth forecasts were lowered from 1.9 percent this year to 1.3 percent, and from 1.9 in 2015 to 1.3 percent.

Economists said that Germany now needs a small miracle to avoid a recession.

However, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble downplayed the idea that the region's largest economy was at risk.

"There is no reason to talk about a crisis in the global economy," Schaeuble said during the meeting.

Last week the IMF cut its 2014 global growth forecast to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent, the third reduction this year as the prospects for a sustainable recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis have ebbed, despite hefty injections of cash by the world's central banks.

IMF member countries said bold action was needed to bolster the global economic recovery and they urged governments not to prevent growth by tightening budgets too drastically.