World Bank Cuts Global Growth Forecasts Again – Will 2016 See a Recession?

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By Jacob Maslow

The global financial slowdown is very apparent to anyone who’s paying attention.

China data this week only confirms further that the global driving force for much recent global economic growth is slowing, although still growing, it should be noted.

Commodities exporting countries like Brazil, Canada and Australia have been hit hardest by this, and now the World Bank has once again cut global growth forecasts.

Wednesday’s announcement sees global growth forecasts slashed for the third consecutive year. With Brazil and Russia contracting, and powerhouse economies like the US and China both slowing in terms of output, things are looking gloomy for the global economy, at least in the near term.

So what can we expect in 2016? Global growth of 2.9%, say the experts. That’s revised down from 3.3%, which is what had been previously forecast.

With China’s economy changing fundamentally to an internal consumer based one, and a strong dollar holding back US exports, perhaps a growth revision is not unexpected.

Will corporate defaults in emerging markets and large commodity exporting dependent economies bring down the house?

Probably not in 2016. After all, while the revision may be down, 2.9% is still growth, and growth, as we all know, is positive, no matter how little.

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