IMF pessimistic about Europe's economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its expectations for the EU’s economic prospects, cutting the growth forecasts for four big countries – Germany, France, UK and Italy - while presenting a more optimistic outlook for the US and Japan.

In its twice-yearly report, the IMF predicted Britain would see the highest growth of the European big four this year with 1.9 percent, but the figure is well down from the April forecast of 2.6 percent, according to the Financial Times.