World Bank Raises Global Growth Forecast

Says U.S. is leading growth among advanced economies

(Reuters) - The World Bank on Tuesday raised its forecast for global growth for the first time in three years as advanced economies started to pick up pace, led by the United States.

The rosier outlook suggests the world economy is finally breaking free from a long and sluggish recovery after the global financial crisis.

The poverty-fighting institution predicted global gross domestic product will expand 3.2 percent this year, from 2.4 percent in 2013, according to its twice-yearly "Global Economic Prospects." In the bank's last forecast in June, it expected global growth to reach 3 percent in 2014.