The global economy is set to expand by a modest 3.3 percent this year as a still-smoldering euro zone debt crisis and a relatively slow US recovery continue to leave Asia as the main driver of growth, Reuters polls showed. Asian economies, as well as Latin America, are expected to pick up the pace later this year, driven by monetary stimulus after a soft patch – a boost Western policymakers are increasingly unable to provide. The US economy has not taken off in the way many had hoped and the outlook there remains relatively subdued, although still much better than most of its Western peers. "We think it is increasingly clear that the US is on a fairly self-sustaining recovery and is reasonably – but not completely immune – from what is happening in the euro zone," said Andrew Kenningham, senior global economist at Capital Economics. "In Europe, it's really a very different story. We expect recession this year, but we find it difficult to see why the euro zone would recover next year." The polls of more than 700 economists across the world, taken in the past few days in the run up to this week's meeting of G20 finance ministers, predicted 3.3 percent global growth this year, unchanged from a poll taken three months ago. That would mark a slowdown from the International Monetary Fund's 3.9 percent estimate for 2011 and is slightly less optimistic than their forecast for 3.5 percent growth this year. But 2013 is expected to see a slightly better 3.8 percent, based on expectations that the euro zone crisis fades, the US picks up steam and Asia finds its stride again.
