国际货币基金组织(IMF)再次下调了对当前年度全球经济增长的预期，理由是“美国出现了自大萧条(Great Depression)以来规模最大的金融危机”。

The International Monetary Fund has again cut its global economic growth estimate for the current year, citing the “largest financial crisis in the US since the Great Depression”.

在越南召开的东南亚央行和财政部官员会议上，各新闻通讯社获得的一份文件显示，国际货币基金组织预计，2008年全球经济增幅仅为3.7%，远低于1月份估计的4.1%。

The fund expects the world economy to expand by only 3.7 per cent in 2008, much weaker than a previous estimate of 4.1 per cent made in January, according to a document obtained by newswires at a conference of southeast Asian central bankers and finance officials in Vietnam.

如果得到证实，这一修正后的预测值将为2002年以来最低的全球经济增幅，而且将会加剧人们对美国经济问题可能引发全球衰退的担忧。

This revised forecast, if confirmed, would mark the slowest pace of global growth since 2002 and adds to fears the problems facing the US economy could trigger a global recession.