The head of the World Bank Robert Zoellick has said that the rapid rise in food prices could potentially push over 100 million people further into poverty. This warning follows a statement from The International Monetary Fund which said that hundreds of thousands of people were at risk from starvation.

Food prices have risen sharply over the past 6 months due to poor weather in some countries coupled with bigger demand and an increase in land being used to grow crops for transport fuels.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to sell some of its gold assets to shore up the troubled financial market. The IMF hopes to raise in the region of $6bn (£3bn) from the sale, approximately 12.97 million ounces which equates to around 12% of its gold holdings.
Gold’s price has been steadily rising over the past few months as traders look for havens to protect their money from the unstable financial markets.
The IMF can only sell the gold if it gets approval from the US Congress and many of the 185 countries that are members of the organization.

Although not quite a recession the forecast for global growth in the economy is lower from the International Monetary Fund. Thoughts are that a global shutdown is likely,well according to the chief economist at IMF.

For the major economies which are already established growth will take place but in a weaker fashion. We need to be on the lookout for market turmoil.