Global economic growth likely to slow next year led by U.S. and China to 3.6 pct, says S&P Global Ratings

The global economic growth rate is expected to slow next year led by the U.S. and China, a development that is both necessary and healthy, according to a report released today by S&P Global Ratings, titled "Global Economic Outlook 2019: Autumn Is Coming."

Overall, the rate of expansion for the global economy is expected to fall to 3.6 percent next year from a six-year high of 3.8 percent in 2018.

China's growth story will likely be less dramatic than that of the U.S. The  authorities have taken a number of policy-easing measures, including lowering the reserve requirement for smaller banks and enacting fiscal stimulus in the form of ramped-up infrastructure spending, the report added.

This mild stimulus will cushion the slowdown, resulting in a continued steady decline in reported growth and a lowering of the official target in 2019 from around 6.5 percent this year.

Growth in Europe is expected to continue to decline next year with domestic demand the main driver of activity. Consumption will benefit from falling unemployment, rising wages, and lower energy prices.

"The weakness in the third quarter of this year was temporary, in our view (with the German economy contracting, weighed down by a sharp decline in automobile production), and we are forecasting growth of 1.6 percent for 2019, from 1.9 percent this year," S&P Global Ratings commented in the report.