WTO chief sees global supply chain problems as 'transitory'

GENEVA: The head of the World Trade Organization said on Thursday that she expects global supply chain problems to be short-lived, saying that they will go into 2022 but not beyond.

"Our assessment of this situation is it is not a structural issue. It's a transitory issue," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a media briefing, saying she expected them to stretch into 2022 and then work themselves out after several months.

Supply chain problems have emerged as the global economy has pulled out of a pandemic-induced recession and threaten to slow recovery. They have already stoked inflation.