The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecasts for global economic growth over the next two years in connection with the Ukrainian crisis, comparing the ripple effects of the conflict with an earthquake, CNN reports.

The economic consequences of the war are spreading everywhere, says the latest IMF forecast.

The IMF now expects the global economy to grow by 3.6% in both 2022 and 2023, a sharp slowdown from 6.1% growth in 2021. The new forecasts reflect a decline of 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, from the January forecast.

The outlook is that the war will continue to be limited to Ukraine and further sanctions against Russia will not target its energy sector, as the effects of the pandemic continue to ease.

The IMF says the conflict will hit Ukraine and Russia the hardest. The IMF expects Ukraine's economy to contract by 35% this year, while Western attempts to punish Russia could see its economy shrink by 8.5%. But as the war caused a surge in the prices of energy and other commodities, exacerbating supply chain problems and fueling expectations of more sustained inflation, its effects will be felt almost everywhere.

In Europe, which relies heavily on Russia for its energy needs, growth is expected to slow to 2.8% in 2022, down 1.1 percentage points from January.

The IMF projects the US economy to grow at 3.7% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous forecast.

While the report notes that the global economic outlook has deteriorated significantly" since the start of the year, it does not predict a recession, which the IMF usually predicts when growth falls to 2.5% or lower.

But the IMF also notes well above the norm uncertainty around its forecasts due to the unprecedented nature of the shock. The risks of a further slowdown, coupled with persistently high inflation, are growing.