WTO cites US rates, refugee costs among risks to trade growth
Chinese slowdown already caused the WTO to cut its 2015 forecast for growth in Asian imports to 2.6%
Geneva
WORLD trade will grow by 2.8 per cent this year and could be pegged back further by a US interest rate rise, China's economic slowdown or Europe's refugee crisis, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday.
The forecast, revised down from a 3.3 per cent forecast made in April, means 2015 will be the fourth year in a row with trade growth of less than 3 per cent, half the annual average in 1990-2008 before the financial crisis hit.
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