The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday predicted Iran's economy will sink deep in the red due to renewed US sanctions but forecast increased Saudi growth on the back of higher oil production.

In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said the oil-dependent economy of the Islamic republic is expected to shrink by 1.5 percent this year and by 3.6 percent in 2019.

An upswing in economic risks due to rising trade tensions and debt levels has prompted the International Monetary Fund to cut its forecast for world growth for this year and next.

With trade growth set to slow sharply amid a trade war between the United States and China, the IMF cut its outlook for global GDP by two-tenths to 3.7 percent for 2018 and 2019, according to the quarterly World Economic Outlook Report issued Monday.

U.S. sanctions on Iran will not impact Qatar Airways' flights to the Islamic republic, the airline's boss Akbar al-Baker said on Monday.

Speaking at a high-profile business conference in the Qatari capital Doha, Baker said services to Iran would continue despite a tightening economic and political squeeze on Iran by Washington.

The Sao Paulo stock exchange soared six percent in opening trades Monday after right-wing populist Jairo Bolsonaro's strong first-place finish in round one of Brazil's presidential elections.

Iran's oil minister said on Monday that the market will never believe "exaggerated" claims by Saudi Arabia that it can replace Iranian oil shipments lost due to renewed U.S. sanctions.

U.S. economists William Nordhaus and Paul Romer on Monday shared the 2018 Nobel Economics Prize for constructing "green growth" models that show how innovation and climate policies can be integrated with economic growth.

Working independently, they have addressed "some of our time's most basic and pressing questions about how we create long-term sustained and sustainable growth," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

Rising protectionism, vulnerable emerging markets and record debt levels: The IMF holds its annual meeting this week in earthquake-stricken Indonesia, as it shines a light on tremors in the global economy.

A record number of passengers using Lisbon's airport is proving a bittersweet achievement as daily delays and a lack of space to park planes threatens to strangle the goose laying golden eggs for Portugal's economy.

It was three decades ago, but Kazuhiko Ochiai still remembers his first taste of cheese when he visited France, a palate pleaser that inspired the former researcher to start producing his own variety in Japan.

Sudan slashed the official value of its currency against the U.S. dollar by more than half on Sunday, the third devaluation this year in the face of a mounting economic crisis.