Supply chain woes and growing inflation concerns pushed aside a widening gap in Covid-19 vaccinations and mounting debt problems for developing countries as the top concerns for global policymakers at International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings this week.

US consumer prices increased solidly in September as Americans paid more for food, rent and a range of other goods, putting pressure on the Biden administration to urgently resolve strained supply chains, which are hampering economic growth.

Global finance officials gathered in Washington on Wednesday were focused on finding a way to alleviate supply chain bottlenecks that are driving prices higher and threatening to derail the economic recovery.

Amazon.com Inc has been repeatedly accused of knocking off products it sells on its website and of exploiting its vast trove of internal data to promote its own merchandise at the expense of other sellers. The company has denied the accusations.

The United States is nearly ready for the central bank to pull back on its stimulus, and the high inflation may soon retreat, a Federal Reserve official said Tuesday.

Rising energy prices are weighing on households but the recent spike is unlikely to fuel a 1970s-style oil crisis and should retreat early next year, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told AFP Tuesday.

US lawmakers rubber-stamped a short-term bill to lift the nation’s borrowing authority Tuesday, averting the threat of a first-ever debt default -- but only for a few weeks.

The World Bank is taking steps to rebuild the credibility of its research after a data-rigging scandal forced it to cancel its flagship  “Doing Business” report on country business climates, bank President David Malpass said on Monday.

US electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc sold 56,006 China-made vehicles in September, the highest since it started production in Shanghai about two years ago, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Tuesday.

Investors are primed for another period of strong US profit growth as third-quarter reports from Corporate America flow in starting this week. But as business continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, new problems are arising that are taking center stage for Wall Street, including supply-chain snags and inflationary pressures.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday she was confident the US Congress would approve legislation to implement the global corporate minimum tax agreed by 136 countries.

The IMF executive board was to meet Sunday to hear from a law firm whose investigators concluded that managing director Kristalina Georgieva manipulated data in favor of China while she held a senior role at the World Bank, a source close to the case said Saturday.

Meal delivery services became essential during the pandemic, when millions of Americans were under lockdown and restaurants were shut to visitors.

The US economy was predicted to add hundreds of thousands of jobs last month but instead gained only 194,000 as the Delta variant of Covid-19 again denied President Joe Biden the soaring labor market he is banking on -- at least for now.

US stock market investors are gauging whether more volatility is ahead because of surging global energy prices, which could drive up inflation, erode profit margins and pressure consumer spending.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board will meet again on Friday after interviewing Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva over claims that she pressured World Bank staff to alter data to favor China in her previous role, a source familiar with the deliberations said.

US senators neared agreement in the small hours of Thursday to stave off a catastrophic credit default after Democrats said they were close to accepting an offer from the Republicans to raise the debt limit for two months.

US services industry activity nudged up in September, but growth is being restrained by a persistent shortage of inputs and the resulting high prices as the pandemic drags on.

President Joe Biden delivered a stark warning of American decline Tuesday in a speech urging Congress to vote through his ambitious infrastructure and social spending packages or lose out to the likes of China.

Oil prices surged on Monday as OPEC+ kept to its plan to not boost output further, while US and European stocks slumped amid worries over inflation and higher interest rates.