Inflation and war stoke recession fears for financial markets

The IMF will downgrade its forecasts for 143 economies this year — accounting for 86% of global GDP.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva: 'We are facing a crisis on top of a crisis'.

The fastest-rising inflation in decades and the resulting rush by central banks to raise interest rates are stoking recession fears in financial markets — worries that are being compounded by the impact of aggressive coronavirus lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine.

In the last week alone, the US and UK logged inflation accelerating the most since the early 1980s and the central banks of Canada and New Zealand provided a model for the US Federal Reserve and others by hiking rates for the first time in 22 years.