WTO cites US rates, refugee costs among risks to trade growth

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.