The promised reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has come too late to spare some of the world’s poorest countries from economic and fiscal distress, officials have warned, even as it removes some of the shackles on more prosperous countries’ prospects.
Speaking at the end of the IMF’s spring meetings in Washington on Friday, Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director, warned the crisis in the Middle East would still present a “serious threat” to the global economy even if the conflict ends tomorrow.
There were about a dozen countries that might need additional support from official lenders should conditions worsen, said Georgieva. Most were in Africa, she added, and between five and eight of those were in IMF programmes that might require “augmentation”.