Global finance officials will gather in Bangkok this week. The shadow of a war in the Middle East, the biggest energy-supply shock in history, and high interest rates are hanging over the meeting.

According to Reuters, the U.S.-Israel war with the Islamic Republic, now in its eighth month, will be on the agenda of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The meeting will be held outside Washington for the first time in three years.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend the session. He has sent two senior officials in his place.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, told Reuters that global growth has held up better than expected, but pressures are set to rise again. According to him, three things hit at the same time: a surge in the price of diesel, an increase in the price of chemical fertilizer, and the El Niño weather phenomenon that experts say could cause 450,000 deaths from heat.