BANGKOK, Oct. 14 -- The International Monetary Fund now assumes the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until March 2027, and the Gulf economies on either side of it are carrying the assumption: Saudi Arabia is forecast to shrink 3.3 percent this year, Kuwait 16.7 percent and Qatar 15.6 percent.

The fund's World Economic Outlook, released on Tuesday at its annual meetings, raised global growth for 2026 to 3.1 percent from 3.0 percent in July and left 2027 at 3.4 percent, Xinhua reported. Headline inflation is forecast at 4.7 percent this year and 4.1 percent next. The figures rest on oil averaging $95.74 a barrel this year, up about 41 percent from 2025, and $87.39 in 2027, with conditions in the strait broadly back to prewar levels by Octo...