Global economy drifting downwards, says BBVA

HONG KONG - the global banking group, BBVA, has released figures showing that the global economic outlook deteriorated in 2019, following a downturn already seen in 2018. Between January and October of 2019, BBVA Research reduced its global growth forecast for 2019 and 2020 by 0.3 percentage points to 3.2% and 3.1%, respectively -- half a point less than the average from 2011 to 2018. 

BBVA says this reduction was the result of a combination of factors, with the positive aspects outweighed by the negatives, whose impact could not be offset by demand policies.

Meanwhile, fiscal policies aimed to boost activity resulted in increased primary public deficits in these economies in 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, with the exception of Japan.

Central banks in the world's biggest economies took advantage of the room for maneuver offered by the absence of inflationary pressure, to cut interest rates. www. bbvaresearch.com  (ATI).