MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT THREATENS GLOBAL ECONOMIC STABILITY – IMF CHIEF

March 5, 2026

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Agency Report

Global economic resilience is being tested once again by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Thursday.

“This conflict, if it proves prolonged, could significantly impact global energy prices, market sentiment, growth, and inflation, placing new pressures on policymakers worldwide,” Georgieva said during a livestream of the “Asia in 2050” conference in Bangkok.

The United States and Israel began striking targets in Iran on Saturday, killing the country’s supreme leader and triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.

The conflict in the resource-rich region has sent global oil prices soaring and disrupted financial markets worldwide.

“We are in a world of more frequent, more unexpected shocks, and we have been warning our membership for quite some time that uncertainty is now the new normal,” Georgieva said on Thursday.

“We are potentially in a prolonged period of flux.”

Energy security was “at stake” for most of Asia, she told the conference in Thailand’s capital, noting the markets have fluctuated “like a roller coaster over the last couple of days”.

“So the sooner we see the end of calamity, the better for the whole world.”

AFP