VOA News | Wednesday, October 11, 2023 
IMF Warns of ‘Limping’ Global Economy

Leading economists gathered in Marrakech, Morocco, on Tuesday for the International Monetary Fund’s annual conference. Their message was clear: The world economy is beginning to slump as fissures between East and West widen. “The global economy is limping, not sprinting,” IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told reporters on Tuesday. The IMF predicts that global economic growth will slow in 2024 to 2.9% from this year’s 3%. It says that downturn is in part due to the emergence of geopolitical blocs, stifling free trade across the globe. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 played a large part, the IMF says, noting that over the past 20 months, the West has issued unprecedented sanctions on the Kremlin and has shifted away from relying on China. Analysts say the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas insurgents could further expand the rift between East and West — and disrupt commerce in the Middle East, boosting the cost of oil worldwide. Oil prices have already soared in the fallout of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine…Read more