Recession blues usurp global pandemic-recovery narrative

THE global macroeconomic outlook could not be more cloudy, what with geopolitical conflict, soaring prices of everything from energy to food, supply chain disruptions, and a tightening monetary trajectory in full play.

With that, the narrative of a post-pandemic economic rebound has been usurped by rising fears of a potential recession in the world's biggest economy, the United States, in the second half of the year. This could jeopardise the strong recovery that economies the world over, boldly began the year with.

A multitude of factors have led to this shift. The Russia-Ukraine conflict and sanctions against Russia have seen prices of commodities such as crude, base metals and food hit the roof.