Global economic resilience was once again tested by the latest war in the Middle East, the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, warned on Thursday.
“This conflict, if it turns out to be more prolonged, clearly has the potential to affect global energy prices, market sentiment, growth and inflation and place new demands on the shoulders of politicians everywhere,” Georgieva said during a live stream of the “Asia in 2050” conference in Bangkok.
The United States and Israel began launching strikes against Iran on Saturday, martyring the country’s supreme leader and triggering a wave of retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.
The conflict in the resource-rich region has sent global oil prices soaring and markets have been thrown into turmoil.
“We are in a world of more frequent, more unexpected shocks, and we have been warning our membership for some time that uncertainty is now the new normal,” Georgieva said Thursday.
“We are potentially in for a long period of change.”
Energy security was “at stake” for most of Asia, she told the conference in Thailand’s capital, noting that markets have fluctuated “like a roller coaster ride over the last few days”.
“So the sooner we see the end of the calamity, the better for the whole world.”
