IMF chief warns energy shock, public debt and AI boom threaten global growth – business live
Kristalina Georgieva’s warning comes as Brent crude rises above $101 a barrel Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. The UK housing market has come to a standstill, ahead of the introduction of the government’s Your First Home scheme targeted at first-time buyers. While the market overall has been fairly subdued, property prices…
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has raised concerns that global growth may face challenges from an energy shock, rising public debt levels, and an artificial intelligence boom. As Brent crude oil prices surge above $101 a barrel, the UK housing market has reached a standstill, with property prices remaining resilient despite higher mortgage rates.
This resilience can be attributed to changing expectations about the future direction of base rates, which have been affected by ongoing uncertainties surrounding the Middle East conflict.
However, the outlook for housing activity remains uncertain, as consumer confidence plays a crucial role in determining market behavior. The UK's future economic prospects will depend on whether consumers remain confident that recent cost-of-living pressures will be short-lived. A sense of stability is essential for sustaining growth, and Georgieva hopes that the UK's economy will not face such dire circumstances.
In the meantime, calm has returned to European bond markets, with French, Italian, and Greek bonds outperforming amid a general rally.
The UK Treasury is set to conduct a gilt auction for securities maturing in 2028, while the US Federal Reserve is scheduled to release minutes from its last policy meeting at 7pm BST.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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