Uncertainty is roiling the financial and trade world, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday (April 24) in Washington, DC. Thousands of journalists, policymakers, bankers and civil society organizations are gathered there for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

“We have significantly downgraded our projections for global growth. Major trade policy shifts have spiked. Uncertainty off the charts. Accompanied by tighter financial conditions and higher market volatility. Simply put, the world economy is facing a new and major test, and it faces it with policy buffers depleted by the shocks of recent years,” Georgieva told reporters at the announcement of the annual Global Policy Agenda for the Fund.

Georgieva urged countries to step back from trade actions and retaliations, which so far are lowering the outlook for global growth.