Kathmandu. The world is in crisis. Tensions in West Asia could have a devastating impact on global economic growth. <\/p>\n
This warning has been issued by the United Nations trade and development agency UNCTAD. It has warned that the energy crisis caused by tensions in the Middle East is posing a major threat and is putting pressure on the global economy. As a result, global economic growth is expected to slow from 2.9 percent last year to 2.6 percent in 2026. <\/p>\n
Energy prices affecting global growth<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n According to UNCTAD, the energy crisis caused by the conflict in West Asia is adversely affecting global economic growth. In its Trade and Development report, UNCTAD projected global economic growth to slow from 2.9 percent last year to 2.6 percent this year. It also said that global trade in goods and services is projected to grow by 4 percent this year at constant prices. However, much of the projected increase in trade is expected to be due to higher energy costs. <\/p>\n UNCTAD’s latest projection comes amid concerns about rising geopolitical risks, changes in global trade patterns, and financial risks associated with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). “Asia is projected to contribute 59 per cent to global economic growth in 2026,” UNCTAD said in its report. <\/p>\n These projections demonstrate Asia’s role in supporting global growth despite pressures on the broader economy from the West Asia crisis and energy price hikes. <\/p>\n U.S.-China trade dynamics are changing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The report highlights the changes in trade caused by the ongoing tensions between the US and China. UNCTAD said, “Trade between China and the United States has decreased by more than 20 percent since 2024. While East Asia has expanded trade with both China and North America. \u2019<\/p>\n The agency warned that restrictions on trade and investment are making it increasingly difficult for new companies to enter strategic sectors. According to UNCTAD, export controls, investment checks and supply chain conditions are complicating access to strategic sectors for new entrants. <\/p>\n This is a major warning about AI{<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n }<\/p>\n Citing the impact of energy prices and US-China tensions, UNCTAD has expressed optimism about both business opportunities and financial risks from the increased use of AI. According to UNCTAD, AI-related products, including semiconductors, have emerged as a key driver of goods trade. However, an increase in AI-related trade does not automatically translate into widespread growth. <\/p>\n The report also warns that the growing popularity of AI could pose a risk to financial stability. This is because the markets are becoming increasingly dependent on a few companies. However, the agency did not disclose the names of these companies. \u2013 Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kathmandu. The world is in crisis. Tensions in West Asia could have a devastating impact on global economic growth. This warning has been issued by the United Nations trade and development agency UNCTAD. It has warned that the energy crisis caused by tensions in the Middle East is posing a major threat and is putting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":248300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45044,45159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news-en","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319362,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319361\/revisions\/319362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media\/248300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}