WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund chief said Thursday the world economy is expected to grow less than 3 per cent in 2023, down from 3.4 per cent last year, increasing the risk of hunger and poverty globally.

Kristalina Georgieva said growth is expected to remain around 3 per cent for the next five years, calling it “our lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average of 3.8 per cent from the past two decades.”

She said slower growth would be a “severe blow,” making it even harder for low-income nations to catch up.

“Poverty and hunger could further increase, a dangerous trend that was started by the COVID crisis,” she said.

Georgieva’s comments at a Meridian-Politico event come ahead of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and its sister lending agency the World Bank in Washington, where policymakers will convene to discuss the global economy’s most pressing issues.

The annual gathering will take place as central banks around the world continue to raise interest rates to tame persistent inflation and an ongoing debt crisis in emerging economies pushes debt burdens higher, preventing nations from growing.

The IMF head said persistently high interest rates, a series of bank failures in the US and Europe, and deepening geopolitical divisions are threatening global financial stability.