We are sticking to our forecast for global economic growth of around 5.0% for this year. However, the growth rate has already passed its peak. For 2022, we expect growth of 4.0%.
China is also facing weakening economic growth. Moreover, there are problems in the real estate sector.
The Biden Administration is having difficulty finding Congressional majorities for its ambitious $3,500 billion spending package.
The Fed wants to start reducing (“tapering”) its bond-buying programs in November.
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member interest rate forecasts (the “dot plots“) are consistent with one rate hike next year followed by three rate hikes in each of the following two years.
The September FOMC monetary policy meeting and the indication that the Fed will begin tapering bond purchases later this year had only a marginal impact on the US dollar yield curve.
The quiet sideways trend in the US dollar continues.

We expect the global economy to grow around 5.0% in 2021.
Ultra-expansionary monetary policy had little or no inflationary effect during the periods of lockdown because of the collapse in the velocity of money circulation that was induced by those lockdowns.
Now, with the reopening of the economy, consumers can again spend on services like travel and hotels. This will tend to increase the velocity of money circulation, increasing the risks of inflation.
The Fed has adjusted its expectations for inflation and started to discuss “tapering”. The Federal Open Market Committee now projects the first rate hike in the next interest rate cycle as early as 2023 (instead of 2024 previously).
Stock markets are experiencing abrupt shifts in sentiment but remain resilient.
The September FOMC monetary policy meeting and the indication that the Fed will begin tapering bond purchases later this year had only a marginal impact on the US dollar yield curve.
Precious metals prices have corrected sharply as real yields have picked up. More details on our assessments in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

Economic lockdowns are being rapidly reduced in the USA due to a significant drop in the number of cases. Europe, with the exception of the UK, has a clear backlog with regard to vaccinations and is again recording rising case numbers, which is why lockdowns tend to be extended or even reintroduced. The fiscal stimulus in the US is much higher than in Europe. More details on our assessments in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

Market outlook Q1 2021: We expect global economic growth of around +4.5% in 2021. The second pandemic wave and the lockdown measures triggered by it will still slow down economic growth in the northern hemisphere in the coming months. More details on our assessments in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

Market outlook Q4 2020: The economic recovery continues at a slower pace due to a renewed rise in the number of cases. The impact of the pandemic forced virtually all central banks in the developed world to bring their policy rates closer to the zero bound and thus to BOJ and ECB policies. More details on our assessments in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

Market outlook for Q3 2020. Despite opening measures regarding lock-downs, a V-shaped economic recovery is unlikely. Equity market performance is at odds with macro indicator performance. More details on our assessments in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

Market outlook for Q2 2020. Due to the outbreak of the COVID 19 coronavirus in all parts of the world and large-scale quarantine measures, we had to revise our growth forecasts sharply downwards. More details on our estimates in the new Aquila Viewpoint.

In the course of next year, we expect growth to stabilize tentatively. The ECB and the FED will maintain their balance sheet expansion programs. The FED is likely to keep further interest rate cuts open as an option next year.

The downturn continues. As expected by consensus, the ECB and the FED further eased their monetary policy in September.