The AP reports IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde “said Tuesday the global economy is at a ‘delicate moment’ with a hoped-for rebound in growth later this year being threatened by a variety of factors such as rising trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.” She explained that the IMF “does not forecast a recession in its updated economic outlook to be released next week, but she called the current situation ‘precarious’ and vulnerable to policy mistakes.” Lagarde also “said a hoped-for rebound later this year had been helped by the actions of central banks including the announcement of the Federal Reserve earlier this year that because of the economic slowdown, it was putting future interest rate hikes on hold.” Lagarde told the US Chamber of Commerce, “To be clear, we do not see a recession in the near term. In fact, we expect some pickup in growth in the second half of 2019 and into 2020.”

Reuters reports Lagarde “said on Tuesday that global growth has lost momentum amid rising trade tensions and tighter financial conditions, but pauses in rate hikes will help boost activity in the second half of 2019.” She said the global economy is “unsettled” after two years of steady growth. “We had this synchronized acceleration of growth a couple of years ago. Now it is synchronized deceleration and a slowing momentum across the spectrum,” Lagarde said in a panel discussion.

MarketWatch and Bloomberg also cover the story.