Global central banks in ready mode

MAJOR international institutions and almost all market consensuses are forecasting the global economy, which was firing on all cylinders in 2018, is now looking to grow less strongly in 2019, moving from a synchronised growth to less synchronised global growth.

Global trade tensions, monetary policy uncertainty in advanced economies, downside risks in Europe and an apparent slowdown in China are cited as key factors to watch in 2019. These anxieties come at the time when the US economy is experiencing some real feedback effects from a tightening of financial conditions, volatility in the stock market, the strong dollar, the impact of higher cost of borrowing on interest sensitive sectors.