The International Monetary Fund is likely to revise downwards its estimates for global economic growth due to slower growth in emerging economies, IMF head Christine Lagarde said in a newspaper interview.

"We are in a recovery process whose pace is decelerating. There is a shift between emerging countries and developed countries. The first ones, who were driving a global recovery not so long ago, are slowing down. The others are seeing their momentum accelerate. This should lead us to revise downwards our growth forecasts," Lagarde told Les Echos in an interview.

"A forecast of 3.3 per cent growth this year is no longer realistic. A forecast of 3.8 per cent for next year neither. We will however remain above the 3 per cent threshold," she said.

The IMF is due to release updated economic forecasts in October. – Reuters