Hope returns

The positive signals being sent out by central banks, including both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, have been gratefully received by the market. With the prices of fossil fuels having stabilised (both natural gas and coal are cheaper than before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine), inflation forecasts have fallen. As it turned out, the prospects both for the global economy and for individual countries are now looking better. The International Monetary Fund has raised its global GDP forecast as well as its forecasts for the US, Germany and China. Analysts have pointed out that the situation in the US is better than expected, as unemployment has stabilised and that the risks of a serious recession have receded. China, meanwhile, has lifted its Covid restrictions, which had inflicted so much damage on its economy, while in Germany the reason for the improvement has been the fall in fossil fuel prices – in particular, the price of natural gas. Many forward indicat