Middle East conflict adding to uncertainty amid trade tensions, IMF chief says

By&nbspPeggy Corlin&nbsp&&nbspOleksandra Vakulina

Published connected 18/06/2025 - 18:37 GMT+2•Updated 18:43

The conflict successful nan Middle East will further worsen nan world economical outlook, already strained by ongoing waste and acquisition disputes, nan managing head of nan International Monetary Fund (FMI) has told Euronews successful an interview.

“Being deed by a waste and acquisition warfare has consequences. We person projected a diminution successful world maturation by half a percent point,” Kristalina Georgieva said, adding: “What we witnesser now is much turbulence successful nan Middle East, which adds to uncertainty and truthful is bad for business.”

Since Donald Trump’s return to powerfulness arsenic leader of nan world’s largest economy, world waste and acquisition has been disrupted by a activity of tariffs imposed by nan US management connected its world partners.

Mexico and Canada were nan first targets, followed by a prolonged standoff betwixt nan US and China, which saw reciprocal tariffs betwixt nan brace soar to much than 100%.

On 2 April— a time he dubbed "Liberation Day"—Trump imposed tariffs connected a wide scope of countries, including nan EU. He past declared a 90-day truce, group to expire connected 9 July.

Negotiations are presently underway pinch nan EU, which presently faces tariffs of 50% connected alloy and aluminum, 25% connected cars, and 10% connected each its exports to nan US.

However, nan head of nan IMF, which is responsible for financial stableness crossed nan world and facilitate world trade, admitted that “the world system has proven to beryllium remarkably resilient to shocks, and that resilience continues.”

In her view, economical uncertainty is becoming nan caller normal.

“We unrecorded successful a much shock-prone world, a world of higher uncertainty,” Georgieva said, adding: “For this world, countries request to activity difficult to beryllium much resilient. Do reforms astatine location that would make your economies stronger.”

Georgieva, a erstwhile vice-president of nan European Commission, besides expressed optimism pinch nan economical outlook contempt the bleak maturation figures.

She considered that nan caller waste and acquisition statement betwixt China and nan US and nan woody Trump has brokered pinch nan UK to beryllium bully signs, saying: “We are successful a amended place.”

In an uncertain context, she besides sees opportunities to beryllium seized—an outlook shared by nan European Commission, which is pursuing a strategy of diversifying its trading partners by expanding nan number of waste and acquisition agreements worldwide.

“In Europe, we spot an summation successful bilateral and plurilateral agreements, which I expect to beryllium a large characteristic of nan early of waste and acquisition globally,” she told Euronews, adding that it is simply a awesome infinitesimal for Europe, “a defender of rules-based” world waste and acquisition exchanges.