World Bank dims outlook for global economy amid Russia war

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank has sharply downgraded its outlook for the global economy, pointing to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the prospect of widespread food shortages and concerns about the potential return of “stagflation” — a toxic mix of high inflation and sluggish growth unseen for more than four decades. The 189-country anti-poverty agency predicts that the world economy will expand 2.9% this year. That would be down from 5.7% global growth in 2021 and the 4.1% it had forecast for 2022 back in January. “For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” said David Malpass, the World Bank’s president.