Escalated Russia-Ukraine conflict would keep inflation higher longer -IMF
Andrea Shalal and David Lawder
Tue, January 25, 2022, 12:46 PM
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-escalated-russia-ukraine-conflict-204632607.html
* IMF forecasts Russian economy expanding 2.8% in 2022
* Conflict would drive commodities prices broadly higher
* No. 2 IMF official sees risk of sustained inflation expectations (Recasts with Gopinath interview, adds IMF forecast for Russia)
WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - An escalated conflict between Russia and Ukraine would likely further increase energy costs and commodities prices for many countries, keeping headline inflation rates elevated for longer, a top International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday.
First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath told Reuters the situation now was far different than in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine, and energy prices fell quite sharply amid low demand and ample shale gas supplies.
"This time around ... if this conflict were to happen, you would see an increase in energy prices," Gopinath told Reuters in an interview, noting the current crisis was unfolding in winter and natural gas reserves were much lower in Europe.
