Online reports that the World Bank lowered its forecast for global GDP growth in 2025 by 0.4 percentage points to 2.3%, the lowest level in five years. This will be the weakest growth in 17 years except for 2008 and 2020. In addition, the U.S. economy is expected to grow by 1.4% this year, down from an earlier forecast of 2.3%. Global economic growth is expected to average 2.5% in the first seven years of this century, the slowest decade since the 1960s. Overall, the World Bank lowered its forecast for about 70% of economies, indicating that the global economic outlook is deteriorating. (The Kobeissi Letter)