SG: Global Economic Outlook - Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession

Global Economic Outlook - Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession
2011.11.06 04:47 PM

■ Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession

The bombshell of the announcement of the Greek referendum (now off the agenda) and new twists and turns in Italian politics made the decline in financial stress offered by the euro summit agreement only fleeting. The persistence of this extremely high level of financial stress is the trigger for the downgrade to our global economic outlook, and we now see recession in the euro area. Our full year 2012 forecast now stands at 0% for the euro area, 1.4% for the US and 8.1% for China, which places us below consensus for both 2012 and 2013. Against this backdrop, we expect G4 central banks to pursue an extended period of policy accommodation. The risk to the forecasts remains skewed to the downside with potential for fiscal policy errors, notably in the euro area and the US.