World Bank Downgrades Global Growth Outlook On Ukraine War

The World Bank has lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year citing the impact of the war in Ukraine, World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday.

The global growth outlook was reduced to 3.2 percent from 4.1 percent, Malpass told reporters in a conference call.

The downgrade largely reflects the weaknesses seen in Europe and central Asia, which cover Russia and Ukraine, he said.

Forecasts for advanced and many developing economies were also lowered because of high inflation caused by the supply-chain disruption after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The World Bank mobilized nearly $1 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine, and announced another $1.5 billion to support essential government services, the top official said.

Given the economic stress faced by global economies, Malpass said the lender is planning to mobilize a new 15-month crisis response envelope of $170 billion, with about $50 billion to be committed over the next three months.

This is a continued, massive crisis response given the continuation of the crisis, said Malpass. Helping this effort was the front loading of IDA19, which is an initiative to provide funding support to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

“We’ll be starting IDA20 on July 1, making $93 billion available to IDA countries, the poorest”, he added.

The World Bank president observed that the debt crisis is expected to continue to worsen this year.

Further, Malpass urged the international community to immediately step up emergency assistance for food insecurity and help bolster social safety nets.

Malpass’s conference call was held on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group between April 18 and 23.

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