IMF Chief Says Recession Risk Rises If Uncertainty Drags On (1)

The head of International Monetary Fund warned that the chances of global recession will rise if uncertainty over a US-led trade war continues to drag.

While the Washington-based fund doesn’t currently forecast such a downturn, the impact of tariff threats has created a level of uncertainty that’s “off the charts,” Kristalina Georgieva said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday.

“If we have this cloud of uncertainty coming lower and lower, making it difficult for the business community and for households to take decisions, we will have a self-inflicted injury that I guarantee you we would regret,” she said.

Kristalina Georgieva

Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg