World Economic Outlook, down from the 6% projection that it had made in July. The slight reduction obscured more worrying trends.
The Delta variant of Sars-CoV-2, strained supply chains, accelerating inflation and rising costs for food and fuel are chipping away at confidence.
This uneven picture has made it tough to predict precisely where central banks are coming from. Different officials, sometimes from the same place, are offering varying paths out of ultra-easy money.
A couple of Bank of England policymakers created a fuss last weekend when they signalled a faster degree of tightening might be forthcoming.