International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesperson Gerry Rice said on Thursday that the IMF may review downward in July its forecast for global economic growth.

During a press briefing, Rice said, "We did revise our growth forecast back in April, at the time of our WEO update," referring to IMF’s World Economic Outlook report.

"We went from 4.4% for the world in 2022 to 3.6%, and since then clearly a number of developments have taken place that could lead us to revise further, when that comes with the World Economic Outlook update in July," he added.

Given the evolvement of the situation in the world, the IMF may be obliged to make more revisions still, Rice explained.

The current economic situation was described by Rice as a "slowdown" amid the continuous confrontation of significant challenges by a significant number of countries.  

"We see the global economy headed into a growth slowdown. Some countries may indeed be looking at recession," he said.

IMF director warns of global inflation shock

The head of the International Monetary Fund had issued a warning in April of a global inflation shock which is caused by the war in Ukraine, in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which is slowing down economic growth this year and the next.

The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said the IMF, a fund based in Washington, will be lowering its global economic growth predictions for the years 2022 and 2023 due to the war in Ukraine, entailing the increase in the price of food, energy, and other essential commodities around the world. 

“We are facing a crisis on top of a crisis,” she said in a speech, stressing that the world is facing a clear and present danger as a result of high inflation. 

The situation, which was already bad from the pandemic, is worsened by the current situation in Europe. High-income countries are experiencing the highest inflation rates in 40 years as worries about oil and gas provisions are on the rise. 

Referring to when the IMF cut its global growth prediction to 4.4% in 2022, Georgieva remarked that "the outlook has deteriorated substantially, largely because of the war and its repercussions.

“Inflation, financial tightening and frequent, wide-ranging lockdowns in China – causing new bottlenecks in global supply chains – are also weighing on activity.”

Furthermore, she warned that Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe - who are net importers of food and fuel - will feel the crisis the most.