From The Telegraph, September 14:
Europe could face social unrest if there is a cold winter, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested, as Brussels prepares a €140bn (£121bn) raid on the energy industry to help solve the crisis.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, raised the spectre of unrest in Europe if it proves to be a particularly “harsh” winter.
“There is certainly fear of recession in some countries, or even if it is not recession, that it would feel like recession this winter,” she said.
“If Mother Nature decides not to cooperate, and the winter is actually harsh, that could lead to some social unrest.”
Ms Georgieva said the European Central Bank needed to be “mindful of the necessity to keep the economy going” while also fighting inflation.
The comments came as the EU unveiled a plan to cap power producers’ revenue and raid oil and gas producers’ profits.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said it was “wrong” for companies to be making record profits amid energy shortages due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the money should be shared.
She set out plans to cap the sales of energy from nuclear power stations, wind and solar farms at €180 per megawatt hour, well below half of current prices, and to tax oil, gas, coal and refining firms 33pc of their surplus profit....
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Some other indicators of the IMF's concerns:
