‘ Buckle up for more global crises’

The chief executive of the World Bank has warned governments to“buckle up” for the next string of global crises that will provide little respite for struggling economies.

Kri stalin a Ge orgi eva said the growing frequency off in ancial, economic and terrorism-related emergencies is be coming the “new normal” and will require a more agile response from politicians and businesses.

During a discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia, she said :“I’ m asking myself what has changed in this decade and my conclusion is what has changed probably can be summed up with ‘ buckle up’. We are now at the point when shocks are more fre - quent. Unexpected crises are maybe not more dramatic than they used to be before, but they are very impolite, they don’t wait their turn.

“It used to be there would be a massive crisis, it comes, hits us, for a couple of years we struggle with it … and then it goes away, and then a new crisis would come later.”

Countries are now facing multiple challenges simultaneously, she said.