When looking ahead and formulating the forecasts for 2024, it is always relevant to look back at the recent past and to have a final look at 2023. It was a year with many surprises. The resilience of the Labor market in the US and in the euro area faced with aggressive monetary tightening, the resilience of the US economy in general with a staggering growth performance, the stagnation in the euro area, but also the decline in inflation. But the thing that has been the defining characteristic for 2023 to treat undoubtedly, has been the fact that the peak in policy rates has been reached in the United States and in the euro area. When we now look at 2024, we can say that there are two quote unquote certainties.
