The US economy could grow as much as 1.1% in 2009 or contract by 0.2%, the Federal Reserve said today, slashing its previous forecast.
In its latest forecasts published in July, the Fed predicted gross domestic product growth in a range of 2-2.8%.
Since then, a resurgence in the global financial crisis after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers in mid-September has battered the world's biggest economy.
For all of 2008, the Fed estimated zero to 0.3% growth in US gross domestic product (GDP), down from its previous estimate of a 1-1.6% expansion. The world's largest economy was expected to recover in 2010 to a growth rate of 2.3-3.2%.
The forecasts were published in the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee held on October 28-29.
