World Bank: Lowers 2022 global growth forecast to 2.9% from 4.1% in January

The World Bank lowered its forecast for global growth in 2022 on Tuesday to 2.9% from their 4.1% estimate put out in January, Reuters reported. The World Bank said that the Ukraine war will reduce per capita income in developing economies by 5.0% from their pre-Covid-19 trend. 

World Bank President David Malpass said that the risks of stagflation, the Russo-Ukraine war, and lockdowns in China have been hammering growth and that a recession will be hard to avoid for many countries. Meanwhile, though global inflation is expected to moderate next year, it will likely remain above target in many economies.

The World Bank lowered its forecast for growth in advanced economies to 2.6% in 2022 versus its estimate back in January of 3.8% and lowered its estimate for emerging economies to 3.4% from 6.6% back in January. The bank warned that it sees a real threat that faster than expected tightening of financial conditions could push some countries into the kind of debt crisis that was seen back in the 1980s.