The US-Israel war on Iran and hostilities in the Middle East could push millions more towards hunger, the World Bank’s chief economist has told the AFP news agency in an interview on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, according to Al Jazeera.
“You have about 300 million people who suffer from acute food insecurity already,” Indermit Gill said. “That’ll go up by about 20 per cent very, very quickly,” as knock-on effects grow.
Most exposed are people in countries that are at war or have fragile governments, he said, adding that if the situation isn’t resolved soon, “hunger will start to stalk these countries massively”.
“The food that’s in the market right now has already been grown,” Gill said, but the real effects could be felt in a few months.
