US tax cuts, public spending increasing risks to the global economy: IMF

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned this week that clouds over the world economy are "getting darker by the day."

US tax cuts and public-spending hikes are increasing risks to the global economy by boosting debt, potentially stoking inflation and pushing the dollar higher, the International Monetary Fund warned.

Fiscal stimulus backed by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress will give a short-term boost to the US and many of its trading partners, the IMF staff said in a statement Thursday on its annual checkup of the US economy. However, adding fiscal measures at a time when the economy is growing “will elevate the risks to the US and the global economy,” said the Washington-based fund.

The loosening of the purse