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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Global growth is lower than previously expected, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its quarterly update to its World Economic Outlook released yesterday. The world economy will grow 3.2 percent this year, down from a projected 3.4 percent in January. That may not seem like a big difference on the surface, but the IMF notes that central bankers are running out of tools to stimulate global economies.

"What risks concern us the most? Prominent among them are financial risks and risks of non-economic origin. Since last summer, we have seen two distinct rounds of financial market turbulence. These featured abrupt sell-offs in assets, spikes in risk aversion, spikes in sovereign risk premia, and sharp falls in the prices of oil and other commodities," Maurice Obstfeld, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF said in his presentation of the update. He adds that in both cases markets have recovered, but continued volatility coupled with weakness in the real global economy, could make new rebounds more difficult.

Even with diminished expectations coming from the IMF and global central banks, investors seem to be muddling through. Assets are piling into emerging markets debt and Yong Zhu, Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income at Delaware-based DuPont Capital Management says he sees opportunities in this space lasting over the next several years. "We like the overall credit environment in emergin......................

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