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WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its outlook for the global economy this year, saying the world appears headed for a “soft landing” — reining in inflation without much economic pain and producing steady if modest growth. The IMF now envisions 3.2% worldwide expansion this year, up a tick from the 3.1% it had predicted in January and matching 2023’s pace. And it foresees a third straight year of 3.2% growth in 2025. In its latest outlook, the IMF, a 190-country lending organization, notes that the global expansion is being powered by unexpectedly strong growth in the United States, the world’s largest economy. The IMF expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.7% this year, an upgrade from the 2.1% it had predicted in January and faster than a solid 2.5% expansion in 2023. Though sharp price increases remain an obstacle across the world, the IMF foresees global inflation tumbling from 6.8% last year to 5.9% in 2024 and 4.5% next year. In the world’s advanced economies alone, the organization envisions inflation falling from 4.6% in 2023 to 2.6% this year and 2% in 2025, brought down by the effects of higher interest rates. The Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have all sharply raised rates with the aim of slowing inflation to around 2%. In the United States, year-over-year inflation has plummeted from a peak of 9.1% in the summer of 2022 to 3.5%. Still, U.S. inflation remains persistently above the Fed’s target level, which will likely delay any rate cuts by the U.S. central bank. Globally, higher borrowing rates had been widely expected to cause severe economic pain — even a recession — including in the United States. But it hasn’t happened. Growth and hiring have endured even as inflation has decelerated. “Despite many gloomy predictions, the global economy has held steady, and inflation has been returning to target,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, told reporters ahead the release of the fund’s latest World Economic Outlook. Though the world economy is showing unexpected resilience, it isn’t exactly strong. From 2000 through 2019, global economic growth had averaged 3.8% — much higher than the 3.2% IMF forecasts for this year and next. Keeping a lid on the world’s growth prospects are the continued high interest rates, along with sluggish gains in productivity in much of the world and the withdrawal of government economic aid that was rolled out during the pandemic. The IMF warns that the economic expansion could be thrown off by the continuing adverse effects of higher rates and by geopolitical tensions, including the war in Gaza, that risk disrupting trade and raising energy and other prices. China, the world’s No. 2 economy, has been struggling with the collapse of its real estate market, depressed consumer and business confidence and rising trade tensions with other major nations. The IMF expects the Chinese economy, which once regularly generated double-digit annual growth, to slow from 5.2% in 2023 to 4.6% in 2024 to 4.1% next year. But on Tuesday, Beijing reported that China’s economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in the first three months of the year, fueled by policies that are intended to stimulate growth and stronger demand. The Chinese economy expanded at a 5.3% annual pace in January-March, surpassing analysts’ forecasts of about 4.8%, official data show. Compared with the previous quarter, the economy grew 1.6%. Japan’s economy, the world’s fourth-largest, having lost the No. 3 spot to Germany last year, is expected to slow from 1.9% last year to 0.9% in 2024. Among the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the IMF expects growth of just 0.8% this year — weak but double the eurozone’s 2023 expansion. The United Kingdom is expected to make slow economic progress, with growth rising from 0.1% last year to 0.5% in 2024 and 1.5% next year. In the developing world, India is expected to continue outgrowing China, though the expansion in the world’s fifth-largest economy will slow, from 7.8% last year to 6.8% this year and 6.5% in 2025. The IMF foresees a steady but slow acceleration of growth in sub-Saharan Africa — from 3.4% last year to 3.8% in 2024 to 4.1% next year. In Latin America, the economies of Brazil and Mexico are expected to decelerate through 2025. Brazil is likely to be hobbled by interest high rates and Mexico by government budget cuts. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s latest plan for student loan cancellation is moving forward as a proposed regulation, offering him a fresh chance to deliver on a campaign promise and energize young voters ahead of the November election. The Education Department on Tuesday filed paperwork for a new regulation that would deliver the cancellation that Biden announced last week. It still has to go through a 30-day public comment period and another review before it can be finalized. It’s a more targeted proposal than the one the U.S. Supreme Court struck down last year. The new plan uses a different legal basis and seeks to cancel or reduce loans for more than 25 million Americans. Conservative opponents, who see it as an unfair burden for taxpayers who didn’t attend college, have threatened to challenge it in court. The Democratic president highlighted the the plan during a trip to Wisconsin last week, saying it would provide “life-changing” relief. He laid out five categories of people who would be eligible for help. The new paperwork filed by the Education Department includes four of those categories, while a separate proposal will be filed later addressing how people facing various kinds of hardship can get relief. The broadest forgiveness category would help borrowers who owe more than they originally borrowed because of runaway interest. It would eliminate up to $20,000 in interest for anyone in that situation, while those with annual incomes below $120,000 and enrolled in income-driven repayment plans would get all their interest erased with no maximum limit. It would be done automatically. Another category would cancel loans for people who have been paying back their undergraduate student loans for at least 20 years, and those who have been paying graduate loans at last 25 years. It would automatically cancel loans for those who went to colleges or programs considered to have low financial value. Borrowers would be eligible for cancellation if they attended a program that leave graduates with earnings no better than those with a high school diploma, for example, or programs that leave graduates with large shares of debt compared with their incomes. Borrowers who are eligible for other federal forgiveness programs but haven’t applied would also get loans erased. Federal education officials would use existing data to identify those people and offer relief. It’s intended to reach those who don’t know about other programs or have been deterred by complicated application processes. The proposal was hashed out over the course of several hearings as part of a federal rules process that gathers advice from outside experts. The plan was drafted with the help of students, college officials, state officials, borrower advocates and loan servicers. During that process, advocates pushed for a fifth category of forgiveness for people who have different kinds of hardship that prevent them from being able to repay their loans. The Education Department said it’s still working on the details of that rule, with a separate proposal to come “in the coming months.” The department said the hardship proposal will offer cancellation to borrowers who are at high risk of defaulting on their loans along with those who face other hardships, including high medical and caregiving expenses. That proposal will mirror one agreed upon by outside experts during the rulemaking process, the agency said. It usually takes months for a proposed rule to be finalized, and months more before it can take effect. The Biden administration said it plans to start implementing some parts of the new proposal as soon as this fall, using the education secretary’s authority to implement rules early in certain cases. Republicans are staunchly opposed to any broad student loan cancellation, saying it’s an unfair bailout for people who went to college. Two coalitions of Republican states have sued the Biden administration to block a separate repayment plan that offers an accelerated path to loan forgiveness. The White House says it’s confident the new plan is on solid legal ground, saying the Higher Education Act gives the education secretary the power to waive student loans in certain cases. ___ The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. single-family homebuilding tumbled in March after hefty gains in the prior month, and while demand for housing remains strong, a resurgence in mortgage rates is pushing potential buyers to the sidelines. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, dropped 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.022 million units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Data for February was revised higher to show single-family starts rebounding to a rate of 1.167 million units instead of the previously reported 1.129 million units. New construction remains underpinned by a severe shortage of previously owned houses for sale, with the latest government data showing 757,000 housing units on the market in the fourth quarter, well below the 1.145 million units before the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) on Monday showed confidence among single-family home builders unchanged at an eight-month high in April. The NAHB said “buyers are hesitating until they can better gauge where interest rates are headed.” The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has drifted up towards 7%, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed, as strong reports on the labor market and inflation suggested that the Federal Reserve could delay an anticipated rate cut this year. A few economists doubt that the U.S. central bank will lower borrowing costs this year. The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range since July. It has raised the benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points since March 2022. Starts for housing projects with five units or more plunged 20.8% to a rate of 290,000 units. Overall housing starts plummeted 14.7% to a rate of 1.321 million units in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts falling to a rate 1.487 million units. Permits for future construction of single-family homes fell 5.7% to a rate of 973,000 units in March. Multi-family building permits were unchanged at a rate of 433,000 units. Building permits as a whole dropped 4.3% to a rate of 1.458 million units. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020. U.S. government officials will work with the countries to develop better testing, surveillance, communication and preparedness for such outbreaks in those countries, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters Monday about the program on the condition of anonymity. The official did not share a list of countries that will participate in the program. The announcement comes as countries have struggled to meet a worldwide accord on responses to future pandemics. Four years after the coronavirus pandemic, the prospects of a pandemic treaty signed by all 194 of the World Health Organization’s members are flailing. The U.S. program will rely on several government agencies — including the U.S. State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID — to help countries refine their infectious disease response. Congo is one country where work has already begun, the official told reporters. The U.S. government is helping Congo with its response to an mpox virus outbreak, including with immunizations. Mpox, a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox, creates painful skin lesions. Last year, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global emergency, with more than 91,000 cases spanning across 100 countries to date. The White House on Tuesday is releasing a website with the names of the countries that are participating in the program. Biden officials are seeking to get 100 countries signed onto the program by the end of the year. The U.S. has devoting billions of dollars to the effort. Biden, a Democrat, is asking for $1.2 billion for global health safety efforts in his yearly budget proposal to Congress. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A series of gun safety bills introduced after the deadliest shooting in Maine history appears to be headed toward final passage as the state Legislature races to wrap up its session this week. The House followed the Senate on Monday in approving the governor’s omnibus gun safety bill that strengthens the state’s yellow flag law, boosts background checks for private sales of guns and makes it a crime to recklessly sell a gun to a prohibited person. The bill also funds violence prevention initiatives and opens a mental health crisis receiving center in Lewiston. More votes are necessary in the Democratic-controlled Legislature before it adjourns Wednesday. The House also will be voting on two bills approved by the Senate: waiting periods for gun purchases and a ban on bump stocks. One bill that failed was a proposal to let gun violence victims sue weapon manufacturers. And so far, neither chamber has voted on a proposal for a red flag law that allows family members to petition a judge to remove guns from someone who’s in a psychiatric crisis. That proposal differs from the state’s current yellow flag law that puts police in the lead of the process. Meanwhile, another measure sponsored by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross to fund a range of mental health and violence prevention initiatives awaits money in the final budget. The state has a strong hunting tradition and an active lobby aimed at protecting gun owner rights. Maine voters rejected universal background checks for firearm purchases in 2016. The Oct. 25 shooting that killed 18 people and injured 13 others in Lewiston prompted lawmakers to act, saying constituents were demanding that they do something that could prevent future attacks. Police were warned by family members of the shooter, an Army reservist who died by suicide, that he was becoming paranoid and losing his grip on reality before the attack. He was hospitalized last summer while training with his Army Reserve unit, and his best friend, a fellow reservist, warned that the man was going “to snap and do a mass shooting.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com