By Oluwatosin Maliki
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), has announced that it’s on the watch to closely monitor the impact of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on the world economy.
This was disclosed by Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the IMF on Thursday, during a press briefing at the ongoing IMF and World Bank Group annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.
According to Kristalina, she noted that it was too early to predict the exact impact on the economy at the moment, but acknowledged the “up and down of oil prices.”
However, the managing director expressed that the situation is a cause for concern and its not good for the world economy, while describing it as “a new cloud darkening this horizon.”
She stated, “In terms of economic impact, we are closely monitoring how the situation evolves, how it is affecting especially oil markets. It is too early to say. We have seen some ups and downs in oil prices”.
Kristalina said, “We have seen some reaction on markets. As I said, we will be closely monitoring this. Very clearly this is a new cloud on not the sunniest horizon for the world economy, a new cloud darkening this horizon that is not needed. Pray for peace”.
In addition, she said, “It is heartbreaking to see innocent civilians dying. An attack from one place on another, causing also reciprocity in response.”
Also, the IMF chief stated that it is the innocent who pays the price for the destructive war.
Furthermore, Kristalina said, so far they have witnessed severe shocks that are now becoming the new normal in a world that is weakened by weak growth and economic fragmentation.
She pointed out that the reoccurring shocks since 2020 have plunged the global output down by $3.6 trillion as of this year.
Also, noting that the loss is not unevenly distributed, she expressed that while the US gradually recovered from pre‑pandemic, other nations of the world are still struggling.
She added, “Low‑income economies have been hardest hit because they have had extremely limited buffers to begin with, so it was hardest for them to protect their economy, to protect their people”.
Recall, on Saturday, Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israeli communities very close to the border of Gaza and fired barrages of rockets, the attack which claimed more than 1,200 lives.
Israel says Hamas has captured more than 150 people hostage, including both civilians and security forces.
Consequently, Israel waged war against Hamas and retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip, a densely populated enclave of 2.4 million people, flattening buildings and killing more than 1,500 people.
The war is still ongoing and for now, there is no end in sight.