Citing Russia’s war, IMF cuts global growth forecast to 3.6%

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has downgraded the outlook for the world economy this year and next. The IMF is blaming Russia’s war in Ukraine for disrupting global commerce, pushing up oil prices, threatening food supplies and increasing uncertainty already heightened by the coronavirus pandemic. The 190-country lender on Tuesday cut its forecast for global growth to 3.6% this year. That’s a steep falloff from 6.1% last year and from the 4.4% growth the IMF had expected for 2022 back in January. The Russia-Ukraine war and the darkening outlook have hit just as the global economy appeared to be shaking off the impact of the highly infectious coronavirus omicron variant.