The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again downgraded its forecast for the world economy. It now expects a contraction of 1.3% this year.

The GDP growth of the advance economies has fallen from a negative 2% made in January to its current forecast of a negative 3.8%.

The biggest GDP declines were forecast for Japan, down from a negative 2.6% to a negative 6.2%, Britain down from -2.8% to -4.1% and Germany down from -2.5% to -5.6%.

The IMF forecasts China's GDP growth for this year at 6.5% slower than the previous by 6.7%.