“At least I would say we have 50% likelihood of a recession globally,” Sewing said at the Future of Finance Summit in Frankfurt, as quoted by Bloomberg.

According to the top banker, the chances of a recession hitting the US and Europe in the second half of 2023 are higher than the bank’s previous forecasts before the start of the war in Ukraine.

Sewing highlighted that the world economy is facing mounting pressure, including from inflation and supply-chain issues. He had anticipated that central banks would hike interest rates in response to soaring inflation, noting that the pace is surprising.

Last week, the US Federal Reserve announced its single largest rate hike since 1994, raising rates by three-quarters of a percentage point as the economy continued to weaken.