The World Bank has cut its forecasts for growth across emerging economies this year, warning that they face a double whammy from rising US interest rates and lower commodity prices. “Developing countries were an engine of global growth following the financial crisis, but now they face a more difficult economic environment,” said the bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, as the anti-poverty body published its twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects document.

Growth in emerging economies is expected to be 4.4% in 2015, down from the 4.8% the World Bank was expecting in December.

The World Bank’s senior economist, Franziska Ohnsorge, explained that while the crash in the global oil prices since last year has hit government revenues and undermined growth in exporting countries, it has so far not provided the expected boost to oil importers.