IMF Warns AI, Energy, Debt Threaten Growth

The IMF warns that the global economy faces a combination of prolonged energy-price pressures, record public debt and an AI investment boom whose benefits are concentrated in a small number of countries, creating uneven risks to growth and inflation. Its upcoming outlook is expected to show the steepest growth downgrades in economies hit hardest by war, while high energy costs may persist even if conflict eases. Separate IMF research finds that food and energy price surges can keep inflation expectations elevated, deepen poverty and put pressure on central banks to maintain or raise interest rates; a revised measure suggests 23 million more people fell below the extreme-poverty line from 2021 to 2024 than previously estimated. The IMF says targeted cash assistance is generally more cost-effective than broad price controls, tax cuts or producer subsidies.