Situation in Ukraine makes global recession hard to avoid- - WB president

YEREVAN, May 26, /ARKA/. World Bank President David Malpass on Wednesday suggested that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and its impact on food and energy prices, as well as the availability of fertilizer, could trigger a global recession.

"This (situation in Ukraine) is a huge negative factor. The epicenter of this is Ukraine itself, but also in Russia, by all appearances, the economy will shrink by 15 percent or more. It's a negative situation for the Russian people and especially negative for the Ukrainian people, of course, but it's spreading further outward," he said at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Russian TASS news agency reported. Malpass gave no specific forecast.

"As we look at the global GDP ... it's hard right now to see how we avoid a recession," Malpass said. According to him, the overall situation remains highly uncertain, so it is difficult to make any clear predictions. At the same time, there are many variables that would help improve the situation, including an "increase in the supply of energy" in the market.

"Obviously, one variable would be for Russia to end the war in Ukraine, which would certainly be a positive factor, but right now it's hard to foresee or know when that will happen," the WB head added.

The World Bank last month cut its global growth forecast for 2022 by nearly a full percentage point, to 3.2% from 4.1%, because of the impacts from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. -0-