Political and business leaders gathering for the World Economic Forum meet against a backdrop of inflation at its highest level in a generation in major economies including the US, Britain and Europe.
“We have at least four crises, which are interwoven. We have high inflation ... we have an energy crisis... we have food poverty, and we have a climate crisis. And we can't solve the problems if we concentrate on only one of the crises,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said. IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva, speaking in Daos on Monday, said the war, tighter financial conditions and price shocks — for food in particular — have clearly “darkened” the outlook in the month since, though she is not yet expecting a recession.
“That could lead to supply chains becoming less efficient for a while and, during the transition, create more persistent cost pressures for the economy,” Lagarde added. “I would play down the idea of a short-term trade off between inflation and growth,” he said. “In the short run, our priority is clearly ... fighting inflation.”
The higher rates and expectations for more, though, have yet to weaken consumer spending and a red-hot US job market.