IMF tells central banks to focus on inflation as recession looms

A US shopper checks supermarket prices. Inflation in the US, the EU and the UK has reached levels not experienced since the early 1980s. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

The International Monetary Fund has told central banks to “stay the course” in their fight against inflation, despite warning that a third of the global economy will be in recession next year.

In its half-yearly update, the Washington-based IMF said the “worst was yet to come”. It cited a combination of cost of living pressures, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a slowdown in China as important factors behind a fresh growth downgrade.