REUTERS/Amr Alfiky Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Credit rating agency Moody's raised its 2023 U.S. economic growth forecast on Friday but cut its estimate next year for China, saying that while the risk of a recession had fallen in the United States, China's challenges were mounting. "We have raised our growth forecast for the United States' economy to 1.9% in 2023 from 1.1% in our May outlook, acknowledging the strong underlying economic momentum," Moody's said in a report. The firm, now the only big three agency to have a top notch triple A rating for the U.S. following Fitch's downgrade last month, kept its 2024 growth forecast at 1%, saying that high interest rates would act as a brake on the economy. Moody's kept its growth projection for this year at 5% but cut its 2024 forecast to 4.0% from 4.5% previously. "We believe that low consumer confidence is holding back household spending, and economic and policy uncertainty will continue to weigh on business decisions".

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Persons: Amr Alfiky, Moody's, Marc Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Liberty, REUTERS, Fed, Aaa, Thomson Locations: Liberty State, Manhattan, Jersey City , New Jersey, U.S, China, United States