World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Thursday that she hoped the Israel-Hamas conflict could be ended quickly, warning it would have a "really big impact" on already weak global trade flows if it widened throughout the region.
Marrakech —
"There's uncertainty about whether this is going to spread further to the whole region, which could impact very much on global economic growth," she said. "We hope that all the violence will end... because it does create this uncertainty."
Okonjo-Iweala, in Morocco for this week's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, added that global uncertainty was already limiting growth in trade, but that would be exacerbated by the sudden onset of war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Middle East violence could add to factors throttling trade growth, including higher interest rates, a strained Chinese property market and Russia's war in Ukraine, said the WTO chief.