It may be too early to ditch worries about a global recession

It may be too early to ditch worries about a global recession

Inflation rates in many economies have seen small declines, providing hope that further progress can be made to reduce these to around the 2 per cent target in Europe and the US. This led to the recent easing of interest rate hikes, particularly after the US, which went in for a 0.25 per cent rise, the smallest increase in almost a year. It takes the overall US base rate to 4.75 per cent, and the highest in 15 years. The US move was followed by GCC’s central banks, with the exception of Qatar, which decided to keep interest rates unchanged and which may have some financial and economic implications. The interest rate was raised by 0.5 per cent in the eurozone and the UK. Although inflation rates in the West have fallen to 8.5 per cent on average, they still exceed 10 per cent in some systemically important economies. However, the factors that pushed inflation rates up are still unstable, prompting US Fed Chair Jerome Powell to say: "The battle is not yet close to finish,". A warning that carries a lot of credibility. There are two approaches, the first of which lies in reducing inflation rates, while the second