Even if Washington reaches a deal on the "fiscal cliff ", strong growth in 2013 is far from guaranteed, Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Monday.
As Congress and the White House haggle over ways to prevent some $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts from damaging the economy, El-Erian said the U.S. still faces a protracted period of soft growth.
"If we avoid the fiscal cliff…then we still looking at still sluggish growth of 1.5 to two percent next year," he told "Closing Bell." (Read more: Investors 'Should Get Used to 1-2% Growth': Pimco's Gross .)