IMF, World Bank Confront Wartime Oil Shock in Washington

Top finance officials meet in Washington this week for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings. They face the biggest oil price shock in decades. The cause is the US-Israeli war on Iran. This conflict is driving energy prices higher. It is also fueling global inflation and testing the patience of voters worldwide. Economic turbulence from war is now at its highest since the IMF and World Bank were founded in World War II. The situation rivals the volatile 1970s oil crises. This new crisis follows soon after the Covid pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine. It places the global economy in a perilous position. The main task for officials is to limit the widespread economic fallout.