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UNCTAD revises global growth, says rising food, fuel prices threatening livelihoods

By Femi Adekoya
06 April 2022   |   2:02 am
The UN's trade and development body has downgraded its global economic growth projection for 2022 to 2.6 per cent from 3.6 per cent due to the Ukraine war and changes in macroeconomic policies made by countries in recent months.

UNCTAD Headquarters

The UN’s trade and development body has downgraded its global economic growth projection for 2022 to 2.6 per cent from 3.6 per cent due to the Ukraine war and changes in macroeconomic policies made by countries in recent months.

In an update to its Trade and Development report, UNCTAD says that while Russia will experience a deep recession this year, significant slowdowns in growth are expected in parts of Western Europe and Central, South and South-East Asia.

The war has put further upward pressure on international prices of energy and primary commodities, stretching household budgets and adding to production costs, while disruptions to trade and the effects of sanctions are likely to have a chilling effect on long-term investment.

Coming just as pandemic-induced disruptions seemed to subside, the geopolitical crisis has dealt a blow to confidence domestically. “The added pressure of price increases is intensifying calls for a policy response in advanced economies, including on the fiscal front, threatening a sharper than expected slowdown in growth,” the UNCTAD report says.

Soaring food and fuel prices will have an immediate effect on the most vulnerable in developing countries, resulting in hunger and hardship for households who spend the highest share of their income on food. But the loss of purchasing power and real spending will ultimately be felt by everyone.

“The danger for many of the developing countries that are heavily reliant on food and fuel imports is more profound as higher prices threaten livelihoods, discourage investment and raise the specter of widening trade deficits,” the report says.

The report added that the ongoing war in Ukraine is likely to reinforce the monetary tightening trend in advanced countries following similar moves that began in late 2021 in several developing countries due to inflationary pressures, with expenditure cuts also anticipated in upcoming budgets.

UNCTAD is worried that a combination of weakening global demand, insufficient policy coordination at the international level and elevated debt levels from the pandemic, will generate financial shockwaves that can push some developing countries into a downward spiral of insolvency, recession and arrested development.

“The economic effects of the Ukraine war will compound the ongoing economic slowdown globally and weaken the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” UNCTAD Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan said.

“Many developing countries have struggled to gain economic traction coming out of the COVID-19 recession and are now facing strong headwinds from the war. Whether this leads to unrest or not, a profound social anxiety is already spreading.”

Even without lasting financial market disruptions, developing economies will face severe constraints on growth. During the pandemic, their public and private debt stocks have increased. And issues that receded from view during the pandemic, including high corporate leverage and rising household debt in middle-income developing countries, will resurface as policy tightens.

Of growing concern, the report adds, are the uncertainties generated by the war in key international markets: an environment of volatile capital flows, exchange rate instability and rising borrowing costs, particularly for least developed and middle-income developing countries, with the risk of serious external debt payment difficulties.

Rate hikes in advanced economies, alongside disorderly movements in global financial markets, could, the report warns, prove a devastating combination for developing economies. Volatility in commodity, currency and bond markets, as investors seek out safe havens, have already triggered capital flight along with higher risk premia on the financial liabilities of developing economies.

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