Ifo world economic climate suffers another setback

This is a press release from German think-tank the Ifo Institute:

The Ifo World Economic Climate deteriorated for the fourth time in succession. In the first quarter, the indicator dropped from -2.2 points to -13.1 points. Expectations and assessments of the current economic situation dropped significantly, although experts’ overall view is still slightly positive. The global economy is slowing down more and more.

Deterioration of the economic climate was especially strong in advanced economies. The United States in particular saw a slump in expectations and assessments, while in the European Union, experts also revised their estimates significantly downwards. In contrast, the economic climate in emerging and developing countries remained largely unchanged, after declining sharply over the two previous quarters. The climate cooled significantly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Experts expect weaker growth in private consumption, investment, and world trade. Although a large proportion of respondents still expect short- and long-term interest rates to rise, their share has fallen sharply. They expect the US dollar to depreciate worldwide.