IMF to lower global growth forecasts - German paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will lower its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013 from earlier forecasts of 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent respectively, a Germany newspaper reported on Friday.

The IMF expects the euro zone economy to shrink by 0.4 percent this year and then grow 0.2 percent in 2013, business daily Handelsblatt said in a preview of the fund's latest forecasts which are due to be released next week.

Chinese growth for 2013 is seen at 8.2 percent, versus a previous IMF estimate of 8.4 percent, Indian growth is seen at 6 percent versus a previous forecast of 6.6 percent and Brazilian growth at 4 percent versus 4.7 percent, the newspaper reported.

"The further cooling of global economic growth this year and next year is accompanied by a significant increase in downward risks," it quoted the IMF as saying. It added that the global growth outlook depended on "whether decisive political steps to stabilise confidence are taken in the euro zone and U.S.".

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Stephen Brown)