China economy slowing naturally

Chinese investors read newspapers in front of a screen showing stock movements at a stock brokerage house in Beijing, China, 04 January 2016. - EPA

Policies cannot be benchmarked against a stock market index

THE New Year started not with a bang but a whimper. International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde’s prognosis at the end of 2015 was that global growth in 2016 would be “disappointing and patchy”, blaming rising US interest rates, the economic slowdown in China, persistent financial fragility in several countries and lower oil and commodity prices.