World Bank Group President David Malpass thinks it might take years to get prices back under control as the US and other economies face inflation rates not seen in decades.

"It's going to take months and months, and maybe two years to bring inflation back down," he told CBS's Face the Nation programme on Sunday, according to the Fortune magazine today.

Record inflation and shortages of key commodities such as oil, fertilizer, and wheat, mean "it's going to be very hard" for some countries to avoid recession, Malpass said.

"A lot of the world is shutting down for lack of fertiliser. And then those shortages of crops will last for multiple years," he said, warning that food shortages might lead to "instability" in poorer countries.