The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the global economy will remain vulnerable throughout this year and into the next.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the world faces a “deepening crisis,” as a slowdown is affecting emerging economies as well as advanced countries.

The IMF will lower its global economic growth outlook next Thursday from the initial two-point-two percent announced in November.

He made the prediction in a statement posted on his agency’s Web site Thursday.

The IMF chief warned that some of the countries vulnerable to economic downturn might suffer social unrest or upheaval.

He expected more countries to seek aid from the IMF, not only in Eastern Europe but also elsewhere in the world.