โดนัลด์ ทรัมป์ · Bangkok Post
Middle East war, high debt levels to dominate IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok
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Finance officials from around the world will gather in Thailand this week under the shadow of a widening war in the Middle East, the biggest energy supply shock ever and rising interest rates that together pose daunting risks to already-sluggish global economic growth.
Key facts
- The IMF has signalled little change in its forecast for 3% global growth in 2026 and may edge its forecast for next year slightly higher
- The IMF says public debt is at the highest level since World War Two and will exceed 100% of GDP before 2030.
- World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters that while global growth had held up better than feared when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, shutting off some 20% of the world's oil, pressures were building again
- Finance officials from around the world will gather in Thailand this week under the shadow of a widening war in the Middle East, the biggest energy supply shock ever and rising interest rates that together pose daunting risks to
- The US-Israeli-led war with Iran, now in its eighth month, and the inflation and hardship it has caused, will dominate the agenda and sideline conversations during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank ,
- Interest payments already exceed 10% of revenue in developing countries on average.
Summary
The US-Israeli-led war with Iran, now in its eighth month, and the inflation and hardship it has caused, will dominate the agenda and sideline conversations during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank , being held outside of Washington for the first time in three years.
Notably absent will be US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who dispatched two senior officials in his stead while he handled some "domestic engagements," a US official said.