Russia's invasion of Ukraine may trigger a global recession says World bank chief David Malpass. He said that while Ukraine and Russia would likely see significant contractions, Europe, and the United States were seeing slower growth.
"As we look at global GDP... it's hard right now to see how we avoid a recession. The idea of energy prices doubling is enough to trigger a recession by itself," he was quoted by Reuters.
Mr Malpass also said that many European countries were still too dependent on Russia for oil and gas.
He said the lockdown in China is adding to the situation. The financial, manufacturing and shipping hub of Shanghai - which he said are "still having ramifications or slowdown impacts on the world".
"China was already going through some contraction of real estate, so the forecast of China's growth before Russia's invasion had already softened substantially for 2022," he said.
"Then the waves of Covid caused lockdowns which further reduced growth expectations for China," he added.