According to a survey of leading economists issued on Monday, the global economy faces a year of muted growth expectations and uncertainty due to geopolitical unrest, tight financing conditions, and the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence.
Every year, in advance of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual conference in the Swiss resort town of Davos, a survey of more than sixty senior economists from both the public and private sectors is conducted in an effort to identify policymakers' and business leaders' top objectives.
56% of respondents believe that this year will see a decline in the overall state of the global economy, with significant regional variation. It was widely agreed that Europe would only manage poor or very weak growth, whereas majorities saw moderate or stronger development in China and the US.
Most respondents in South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific saw at least moderate growth in 2024, which is a more optimistic picture.
Even though comments from the world's leading central banks indicate that interest rates have peaked, 70% of respondents still anticipated a loosening of financial conditions when inflation declines and the employment market's current tightness lessens.
The impact of artificial intelligence on the global economy was observed to be uneven: although 94% of respondents anticipated that AI will greatly increase productivity in high-income economies over the next five years, just 53% projected the same for low-income economies.
In a related development, the WEF published a research on the "quality" of economic growth in 107 economies, which came to the conclusion that most nations are expanding in ways that are neither socially or environmentally inclusive.
"Reigniting global growth will be essential to addressing key challenges, yet growth alone is not enough," said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
The WEF declared the commencement of a campaign aimed at developing a new growth strategy and helping decision-makers balance it with other objectives, such social and environmental ones.
(Source:www.rte.ie)
Every year, in advance of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual conference in the Swiss resort town of Davos, a survey of more than sixty senior economists from both the public and private sectors is conducted in an effort to identify policymakers' and business leaders' top objectives.
56% of respondents believe that this year will see a decline in the overall state of the global economy, with significant regional variation. It was widely agreed that Europe would only manage poor or very weak growth, whereas majorities saw moderate or stronger development in China and the US.
Most respondents in South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific saw at least moderate growth in 2024, which is a more optimistic picture.
Even though comments from the world's leading central banks indicate that interest rates have peaked, 70% of respondents still anticipated a loosening of financial conditions when inflation declines and the employment market's current tightness lessens.
The impact of artificial intelligence on the global economy was observed to be uneven: although 94% of respondents anticipated that AI will greatly increase productivity in high-income economies over the next five years, just 53% projected the same for low-income economies.
In a related development, the WEF published a research on the "quality" of economic growth in 107 economies, which came to the conclusion that most nations are expanding in ways that are neither socially or environmentally inclusive.
"Reigniting global growth will be essential to addressing key challenges, yet growth alone is not enough," said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
The WEF declared the commencement of a campaign aimed at developing a new growth strategy and helping decision-makers balance it with other objectives, such social and environmental ones.
(Source:www.rte.ie)
