Berlin - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to downgrade its world economic outlook later Wednesday, a German official said in Berlin.

The growth estimate would be lower than last month, said Joerg Asmussen, a state secretary at the Finance Ministry, with the IMF to say dangers outweighed opportunities at the present time.

Asmussen said the Washington-based world body would warn that there were clear signs the crisis in world financial markets was spreading to the "real" economy of industry, commerce and commodities.

The IMF was set to issue world, US and eurozone forecasts later Wednesday in Washington. (dpa)