Ukraine War: The IMF stated that the financial aid requested by Ukraine amounted to $1.4 billion.
Washington:
The IMF warned on Saturday that the already “severe” global economic effects of the war in Ukraine would be “all the more devastating” if the conflict escalates.
The IMF said in a statement, even as forecasts remain subject to “extraordinary uncertainty, the economic consequences” of the invasion that Russia launched on its eastern European neighbor last week are “already very dire”. “
The surge in energy and commodity prices, with a barrel of oil now nearing $120, has piled on the spurt of inflation that the world was already experiencing as economies recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If the conflict escalates, the economic damage will be more devastating,” the international lender said in a statement after Friday’s meeting of its executive board on the economic impact of the war.
“The price shock will have a worldwide impact, especially on poor households for whom food and fuel account for a substantial portion of the expenditure,” the statement said.
In Ukraine, “the economic damage is already substantial,” with infrastructure being shut down, damaged or destroyed, with the country facing “significant recovery and reconstruction costs.”
The emergency financial aid requested by Ukraine, already reported on February 25, amounting to $1.4 billion, said the IMF said the request could be brought to the executive board as early as next week, according to a Saturday statement. .
Russia’s invasion also prompted “unprecedented” sanctions against the country, which the IMF said “will also have a significant impact on the global economy and financial markets, with significant spillovers to other countries.”
It already noted “a sharp fall in asset prices as well as the ruble exchange rate”, it is too early to call with the full scope of the sanctions’ effect.
It said shortages and supply disruptions could be particularly acute for countries with close economic ties with Ukraine and Russia.
Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the southwest, has already called for “increasing and redeploying its existing IMF-backed program to help cover the costs of the current crisis,” and officials from the IMF conversing with.
On the tenth day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military intensified its bombardment in several areas of the country, including Mariupol, surrounded by Russian troops.
According to the United Nations, about 1.4 million people have fled the war, including neighboring Moldova.
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