Finance officials facing a chronically weak global economy

Eight years after the financial crisis erupted, the global economy remains fragile and at risk of another recession.

"Growth has been too slow for too long," Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, warned on the eve of the spring meetings of the IMF, the World Bank and the Group of 20 major economies Thursday through Saturday.

Like the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the IMF has repeatedly overestimated the strength of the world economy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

Obstfeld expressed concern about volatility in financial markets, the refugee crisis caused by violence in the Middle East and the possibility that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union — a prospect that could undercut Europe's political and economic stability.

Obstfeld issued an urgent warning for countries to make a pre-emptive effort to jump-start their economies through continued low rates, government spending that encourages growth and reforms that promote economic efficiency.