Escalating Middle East conflict could send global inflation soaring, says S&P

Credit rating agency says further deterioration in Israel-Hamas war could raise oil prices with knock-on effect for inflation

The global economy risks suffering a renewed inflation shock from the war between Israel and Hamas, a leading credit rating agency has warned, amid growing concern over a sharp rise in oil prices.

Standard & Poor's, which rates the creditworthiness of governments and companies, said the conflict threatened to compound an already fragile global outlook, as the world's leading central banks battle inflationary pressures sparked by the Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine.