Crisis slowing economic growth worldwide: IMF chief

April 14, 2022: The war in Ukraine has undercut the global recovery, slowing expected economic growth in most countries in the world, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday.

And beyond the humanitarian tragedy and economic crisis, the war has exposed fractures in the international system at a time when global cooperation is the only solution, she said.

The war hit as the world was struggling to recover from the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has caused an acceleration of inflation that endangers the gains of the past two years.

"To put it simply: we are facing a crisis on top of a crisis," Georgieva said in a speech ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

"The economic consequences from the war spread fast and far, to neighbors and beyond, hitting hardest the world's most vulnerable people," she said.

Families already were struggling with higher energy and food prices and "the war has made this much worse."

The IMF is due to release its updated economic forecasts on Tuesday, which Georgieva said will further downgrade the estimate for global growth that was cut to 4.4 percent in January.

AFP/APP