“We face a potential confluence of calamities,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.
She warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “compounded” the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, weighing on the economic recovery and fanning inflation as the cost of food and fuel jumps.
And then there’s climate change.
To limit the economic stress, the IMF is calling for government officials and business leaders meeting in Davos to discuss lowering trade barriers.
But as countries battle growing dismay about the cost-of-living crisis at home, some are heading in the opposite direction, implementing restrictions on trade in food and agricultural products that can exacerbate shortages and push up prices globally.
— This is a developing story and will be updated.