The annual meetings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) started on a gloomy note. In their October update of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF warned that the risks of global recession, sovereign defaults in some developing countries, and financial market instability have increased significantly. The Fund stressed that world growth is already losing momentum, but the worst is to come, with about a third of the world economy estimated to slip into recession in 2023