Most local forecasters now put Brazil s growth rates well below potential output.

Most emerging economies may be returning to growth, but they are performing well below their potential.

Farther to the west, US economic performance is weakening, with first quarter growth a miserly 1.9 well below potential.

The US is adjusting structurally and generating real (inflation adjusted) GDP growth (though well below its potential annual rate of 3 3.5 ).

Africa s Inclusive Growth Potential

Current conditions are keeping economic performance well below potential.

This new round of central bank activism reflects persistent concerns about economic growth. Despite a once unthinkable amount of monetary stimulus, global output remains well below potential, with the potential itself at risk of being suppressed.

Annual growth fell below 3 on average.

Since Abenomics was launched, the deflation gap (the difference between actual and potential output) has dropped from roughly three percentage points to below 1.5. This implies that, while the first two arrows are helping to improve Japan s actual growth path, the third arrow has yet to do much for potential growth.

So the growth potential is correspondingly larger.

That in itself will result in overall GDP growth falling below potential, owing to the inferior productivity and greater corruption in the major companies that the state controls or heavily influences.

That growth model has now almost exhausted its potential.

For Finland, Britain, and Italy, below average growth rates are expected.

So India s medium term growth potential lies well below that of China in recent decades. A significant boost in infrastructure spending and policy reforms can make a difference, but it cannot close the gap.

Russia s economy is now hostage to potential global growth.

The growth shown in table 9.4 below can be summarized as follows

According to a European Commission estimate, Latvian GDP was almost 14 above potential at the peak of the boom, then fell to 10 below potential when the boom went bust. The recovery, however, was equally rapid, with GDP now back to potential (albeit below the unsustainable peak of the boom).

Unit labor costs have risen, and potential output growth has fallen.

But, with global growth below trend in 2013, emulating them will be difficult.

Not anymore. Although growth may exceed the Commission s forecast, there are reasons to be concerned about the eurozone s growth potential.

Even as the developed economies experience an extended period of below trend growth, the emerging economies will remain an important growth engine.

With economic growth continuing, the potential risk posed by this debt will diminish.

They are wrong, however, about Europe s prospects for achieving its restricted growth potential.

This is the kind of global environment that diminishes every country s potential growth.

Continued progress in these areas will increase the region's resilience and growth potential.

While there is a tendency to overrate the impact of the oil windfall on current growth, analyses based on long term trends suggest that the economies of the ESCWA member countries have performed well below their potential since the early 1980s.

But the main problem is that public sector investment remains well below growth sustaining levels.

Despite all the oil and gas below the desert sand, growth lagged and unemployment soared.

Ongoing private and public debt deleveraging has kept global demand growth below that of supply.

The expansion of renewable energy production also holds great potential for boosting economic growth.

The software industry has been hailed as a potential engine for Egypt s economic growth.

We recognize the potential of South South cooperation in promoting economic growth and development.

Ethiopia s development potential is closely tied to seasonal rains, so high rainfall variation, together with lack of infrastructure, has undermined growth and perpetuated poverty. A single drought can cut growth potential by 10 over an extended period.

Indeed, the world should expect a near recession in Russia and Brazil in 2009, owing to low commodity prices, and a sharp slowdown in China and India that will be the equivalent of a hard landing (growth well below potential) for these countries.

Crises are typically associated with a drop not only in actual growth, but also in a country s growth potential, owing to deferred investment.

But the potential for explosive growth has usually been seen only in the manufacturing sector.

If actual output is below potential output, this means that total spending is insufficient to buy what the economy can produce.

When weak aggregate demand causes the economy to operate far below its potential, cuts in government spending enlarge the jobs deficit.

That way, the economy as a whole would not come under pressure to deleverage and thus push production below potential output.

Economic growth rates in the United States and Europe are low and well below even recent expectations.

So here, too, the logic points to a vicious circle Slower growth leads to artificial remedies and further erosion of long term growth potential.

By contrast, output in Greece, which was slow to adopt austerity, is still 12 below its estimated potential and continues to fall.

But weak regional linkages limit small firms growth potential, forcing them to depend on state patronage.

That growth of the labor force will raise potential GDP by only about 0.5 per year.

Given entrepreneurship s potential to drive innovation and GDP growth, supporting such efforts is in everyone s interest.