Leen said indicators from three major economies – the US, Europe and China – were making it clear that the global economy was slowing. In October, gross domestic product (GDP) would show if the Eurozone had slipped back into technical recession.

A grim outcome?
Leen said central banks in each of the three major economies were “trying to prevent a grim outcome”.
“In the US, we see the Fed going further down the road of quantitative easing – or QE, as it is known,” said Leen. “The ECB says it will do whatever it takes to save the euro. In China, interest rates have already been cut and the required reserve ratio for banks lowered.”

GDP forecasts
But a large budget deficit still needed to be addressed in the US and austerity and the lack of growth confronted Eurozone economies. ING Bank economics department forecasts for world GDP issued on 10 September 2012 had 2.4% forecast for 2012, 2.8% for 2013 and 3.2% for 2014.