U.S. growth predicted to drop to 2.5%
C1 ticularly in China, have aggravated the economic crisis.
China, which in recent decades has been an engine of growth, has now turned into an “engine of volatility,” Cormann said.
Both he and Boone emphasized that the world was producing enough oil and grain to meet global demand.
Wheat production over the past 12 months had, in fact, increased from the previous year, Cormann
said. And other oil-producing nations had the ability to replace any Russian oil taken off the market, Boone
said. But the war, export controls, production limits, logistical tangles and other factors were preventing these essential commodities from reaching low-income and emerging countries that are most in need.
There is enough food, Boone said. “The problem is getting it where it is needed at affordable prices,” she added.
The economic fallout is most strongly felt in Europe. In Britain, a combination of high inflation, tax increases and moves by the central bank to raise interest rates is expected to result in zero growth next year after a rise of 3.6 percent in 2022. Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe, is expected to have lower than 2 percent growth for the next two years. Poland, which has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees, is forecast to have 4.4 percent growth this year, and 1.8 percent the next.
In the United States, growth is expected to drop to 2.5 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2023.
“The cost-of-living crisis will cause hardship and risks famine,” the report said, echoing several warnings from other international organizations.
At the same time the organization underscored just how uncertain any forecast could be given the vagaries of war, pandemic and more.