Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

IMF lowers forecasts for oil prices

22 January 2019 13:55 (UTC+04:00)
IMF lowers forecasts for oil prices

By Trend

Average oil prices are projected at just below $60 per barrel in 2019 and 2020, Trend reports citing the World Economic Outlook Update, January 2019 of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

These figures are down from about $69 and $66, respectively, in the last report.

This is while metals prices are expected to decrease 7.4 percent year-over-year in 2019 (a deeper decline than anticipated last October), and to remain roughly unchanged in 2020.

Price forecasts for most major agricultural commodities have been revised modestly downwards.

Crude oil prices have been volatile since August, reflecting supply influences, including US policy on Iranian oil exports and, more recently, fears of softening global demand, according to IMF.

“As of early January, crude oil prices stood at around $55 a barrel, and markets expected prices to remain broadly at that level over the next 4–5 years.”

The report reads that prices of metals and agricultural commodities have softened slightly since August, in part due to subdued demand from China.

“Consumer price inflation has generally remained contained in recent months in advanced economies but has inched up in the United States, where above-trend growth continues. Among emerging market economies, inflationary pressures are easing with the drop in oil prices. For some, this easing has been partially offset by the pass through of currency depreciations to domestic prices.”

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more