Global growth held back by advanced nations - World Bank

WASHINGTON Jan 15 (Reuters) - The World Bank sharply cut its 2013 outlook for the world economy on Tuesday, blaming an unexpectedly sluggish recovery in developed countries for holding back global growth.

In its twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, the bank forecast that global gross domestic product will inch up 2.4 percent this year from 2.3 percent in 2012. In its last forecast in June, the World Bank projected global growth would reach 3.0 percent in 2013.

"What we are seeing is a recovery we anticipated in June being pushed a little further back in time, beginning closer to the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter of 2013, rather than beginning a little earlier," said Andrew Burns, lead author of the report. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Jackie Frank)