The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecastsas the euro area's debt crisis intensifies and warned of evenslower expansion unless officials in the U.S. and Europe addressthreats to their economies.

The world economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, the slowestsince the 2009 recession, and 3.6 percent next year, the IMF saidtoday, compared with July predictions of 3.5 percent in 2012 and3.9 percent in 2013. The Washington-based lender now sees“alarmingly high” risks of a steeper slowdown, with a one-in-sixchance of growth slipping below 2 percent.

“A key issue is whether the global economy is just hittinganother bout of turbulence in what was always expected to be a slowand bumpy recovery or whether the current slowdown has a morelasting component,” the IMF said in its World Economic Outlookreport. “The answer depends on whether European and U.S. policymakers deal proactively with their major short-term economicchallenges.”