WTO chief expects downside revisions in global trade forecast

GENEVA  – The head of the World Trade Organization told Reuters on Tuesday that she expected that global trade forecasts would be revised lower from the current 3 percent for 2022, citing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and related food and energy crises.

“We are in the middle of revising our forecasts now but it’s not looking very promising. All the indicators are pointing to downside numbers,” Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview.

“Grosso modo the outlook is looking gloomy,” she said, without giving exact estimates.

The WTO already revised down its forecast for global trade growth this year to 3 percent from 4.7 percent in April. It projected 3.4 percent growth in 2023.