EU and US risk 'negative shocks' to economy, IMF warns

France and Germany will be among the hardest hit by a global slowdown caused by US protectionism, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Germany, the economic engine of the eurozone, would grow above 2 percent of GDP this year and next year, but growth would fall to 1.9 percent in 2019 and 2020, the Washington-based lender said in its "economic outlook" on Monday (8 October).

French growth would shrink by a similar degree, it said, while the US itself would suffer a ...