Global stocks experienced a choppy final quarter of the year as investors digested downward revisions in the global economic outlook and the China real estate crises in particular. In its recently released Global Economics Prospects report, the World Bank adjusted its 2022 World Real GDP forecast down to 4.1% compared to its 5.5% expectation for 2021. Its long term forecast for 2023 is even lower at 3.2%. In support of its broadly lower forecasts, the report sites “reflecting continued COVID-19 flare-ups, diminished fiscal support, and lingering supply bottlenecks”. It the same report, China’s 2022 forecast is only 5.1% down from the 8% growth expected in 2021.
