Ifo World Economic Climate Improves Noticeably

The Ifo World Economic Climate improved markedly in the second quarter of 2017, the indicator rising from 2.6 to 13.0 balance points. This is the largest increase since January 2013 and was due to the much more positive assessments of the current situation as well as improved economic expectations. This indicates a further recovery of the global economy in the second quarter of 2017. The Ifo World Economic Climate has improved in almost all regions of the world. The main drivers continue to be the advanced economies, above all the European Union. Both the assessments of the current economic situation and the economic expectations continue to remain upward in most countries. In Latin America, the WES experts continued to rate the situation as unfavourable, but the expectations rose markedly. Developing countries and emerging markets also showed a significant improvement in the current situation and the expectations. Africa and the Middle East were the only regions where the economic climate deteriorated. Expectations for Turkey also turned out to be unfavourable. According to the experts, short- and long-term interest rates will rise in the next six months. The price of the US dollar is expected to increase again over the next six months, but less strongly than before.