World Growth Gloom, China Jitters, South Korea Surprise: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Tuesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Pessimism abounds in Davos, as the IMF sees the weakest global economic growth in three years and CEOs are feeling similarly downbeat
• In crosshairs. The IMF downgraded Italy’s growth outlook, coupled with a stern message about the country’s debate over public finances
• French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is heading to Davos with an ambitious mission statement for the world’s richest economies: rebuild capitalism
• Philip Lane has staked his claim to become the European Central Bank’s next chief economist -- now he must wait to see if he has the field to himself
• Gita Gopinath has a knack for asking the kind of questions that, not so long ago, might have raised eyebrows inside the International Monetary Fund, where she just took over as chief economist
• Sliding No. 2. President Xi Jinping issued an unusual warning to party leaders about mounting risks, and Bloomberg Economics explores how the slowdown hasn’t hit bottom yet. Chinese retail and real estate are feeling the worst of it
• Clouds ahead. Singapore’s finance minister warned of a “very negative” outcome in the event of no U.S.-China deal, according to an interview with Bloomberg Television
• Upside surprise. South Korea expanded faster than expected at the end of 2018 as government spending helped offset the downturn in exports

To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Jamrisko in Singapore at mjamrisko@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Ashutosh Joshi

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