Washington: Though the US economy may appear to be emerging from a period of sluggish growth, it is "uncomfortably close" to the "stall speed" associated with past recessions, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

In its annual report on the United States, the IMF cut its outlook for US gross domestic product growth but said it shares the assessment of US authorities "that the most likely scenario is a soft landing."

The IMF said its "baseline" forecast for the US economy is for GDP growth of 2 per cent over the course of 2007 — down slightly from its 2.2 per cent forecast in April.

"However, growth is uncomfortably close to the 2 per cent ''stall speed'' associated with past recessions, even if other accompanying factors — rising unemployment and high real interest rates — are not evident," the IMF said.

The report said US growth is likely to accelerate to 2.7 per cent in 2008, still considered below the optimum pace of 3.0 to 3.5 per cent.

In 2006, the world''s biggest economy expanded 3.3 per cent.