The IMF expects a further slowdown in the US economy

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States is weighing the fallout of economic growth in the rest of the world, excluding the world's largest economic powerhouse, the IMF's chief economist has predicted.

"We have been expecting a gradual slowdown in US growth in 2019 compared to this year," said Morris Obstfeld, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times just days before he left office, as fiscal and fiscal stimulus from the administration declined.

"The slowdown will be more significant in 2020 than in 2019 according to our data," he said, while the fund cut its forecast for US growth next year from 2.9 percent to 2.5 percent.

"For the rest of the world, the balloon seems to be emptying of air," he said. "This will eventually affect the United States," based on economic data lower than expectations in Asia and Europe in the third quarter.

As he did months ago, Oppostfeld, who leaves the IMF at the end of the year to be replaced by Harvard University professor Gita Gopinath, has condemned trade disputes that threaten global growth.

But he ruled out the possibility of returning to an era similar to the Great Depression "when the economy collapsed under the pressure of trade restrictions."

"Current tensions can be detrimental because global investments and production are trade-related, but that does not lead to the collapse we saw in the 1930s," the IMF's chief economist said.

In an interview with CBS, the IMF director Christine Lagarde renewed fears that trade tensions could lead to more taxes and tariffs.

Asked about the protests in France, Lagarde replied that she would "undoubtedly" have an economic impact.

"It is very sad scenes, and it is very sad in Paris," Lagarde said, referring to scenes of violence and damage recorded during the demonstrations, which were broadcast by French and foreign television stations.