The global economy has weathered the energy shock from the six-month Iran conflict and curtailed Strait of Hormuz traffic better than feared, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said ahead of a G20 finance leaders meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. She described a "tug of war" between the negative Gulf energy shock and an artificial-intelligence investment boom supporting U.S. earnings, consumer spending, data-center construction and AI hardware supply chains abroad. Oil and refined-fuel markets remain disrupted: Brent crude briefly topped $120 a barrel in April, while accounts citing different periods put 2026 prices at about $90 compared with roughly $70 last year and recent prices around $80-$90. Diesel has faced middle-distillate shortages, worsened by Russian refinery outages caused by Ukrainian attacks and lost Gulf exports. Fertiliser and grain disruptions, together with a strong El Niño, pushed food prices to a more than three-year high in July and raised renewed food-inflation risks. Global equities have risen, with MSCI's 47-country world index reaching a record $105 trillion, up almost $7 trillion, or 9%, since the conflict began, while Gulf assets underperformed. The dollar gained 1.4%, U.S. Treasuries lost 3.5% on a total-return basis and gold fell nearly 25% through July before rebounding more than 15% in the latest month. Gulf economies suffered the heaviest direct damage, including weaker Saudi exports, a 70%-80% drop in Dubai property sales, a potential near-30% contraction in Qatar, falling Qatari and UAE stocks and a nearly 40% rise in Bahrain's credit-default-swap prices. Georgieva said risks remain tilted to the downside because of rising bond yields, fiscal pressures, stalled disinflation and potentially prolonged restrictive monetary policy. The IMF lowered its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.0% in July and plans updated projections in mid-October in Bangkok.