IMF chief to attend GCC meet today

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde will take part in a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh today, followed by a joint press conference with Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice was quoted as saying by AFP. Meanwhile, the IMF has cut its global growth forecasts for this year and 2013 and called on politicians in the euro zone and the US to take “decisive” steps to restore confidence, a German newspaper said yesterday. Citing excerpts from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook to be released early next week, the Handelsblatt business daily said that the Washington-based body predicted world economic growth of 3.3 percent in 2012 and 3.6 percent in 2013.