Global economic outlook darkens amid escalating trade dispute

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 13, 2019 06:00 am

BERLIN The economic outlook has deteriorated in all parts of the world over the summer due to an escalating trade dispute between the US and China, a survey showed yesterday.

Germany's Ifo economic institute said its quarterly survey among nearly 1,200 experts in more than 110 countries showed that its measures for current conditions and economic expectations have both worsened in the third quarter.

"The experts expect significantly weaker growth in world trade," Ifo President Clemens Fuest said, adding that trade expectations hit the lowest since the beginning of the tariff conflict last year.

"Respondents also expect weaker private consumption, lower investment activity, and declining short- and long-term interest rates."

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was not ready to make a trade deal with China and even called a September round of talks into question, reviving concerns on financial markets that the dispute is unlikely to end anytime soon. - REUTERS