Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has warned that 2023 will be a tougher year for the global economy than 2022 due to slowing economies in the US, EU, and China. The war in Ukraine, rising prices, higher interest rates, and the spread of Covid in China are weighing on the global economy, leading the IMF to cut its outlook for global economic growth in 2023 in October. Georgieva warned that China, the world’s second-largest economy, will face a difficult start to 2023 as the impact on Chinese, regional, and global growth will be negative. Meanwhile, economist Katrina Ell of Moody’s Analytics in Sydney stated that while the baseline avoids a global recession over the next year, the odds of one are “uncomfortably high,” with Europe and the US on the verge of recession. The rising inflation and higher interest rates in Asia are also affecting households and businesses in the region.