THE World Bank is downgrading its outlook for the global economy, blaming continuing outbreaks of COVID-19, a reduction in government economic support and ongoing bottlenecks in global supply chains. The 189-country, anti-poverty agency forecasts worldwide economic growth of 4.1 percent this year, down from the 4.3 percent growth it was forecasting last June. It’s also down from the 5.5 percent expansion it estimates the global economy tallied in 2021. In its Global Economic Prospects report out Tuesday, the World Bank projects that the U.S. economy will grow 3.7 percent this year, down from 5.6 percent in 2021. It expects China, the world’s second-biggest economy, to see growth decelerate to 5.1 percent in 2022 from 8 percent last year. The 19 European countries that share the euro currency are expected to collectively grow 4.2 percent this year, down from 5.2 percent in 2021. And Japan is forecast to register 2.9 percent growth in 2022, up from 1.7 percent last year. Emerging and developing economies are forecast to collectively grow 4.6 percent this year, down from 6.3 percent in 2021. The arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020 slammed global economic output. The world economy shrank by 3.4 percent in 2020. (SD-Agencies) | 