Strategic petroleum releases helped avert a sharper rise in oil prices as a result of the war in the Middle East, but the global economy faces significant downside risks if a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran doesn't hold, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said on Friday.

The IMF notes a decline in energy and commodity prices following a ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz, though full normalization will take time. While inflationary expectations…

The International Monetary Fund says energy and commodity prices have fallen since the United States and Iran agreed to halt hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but…