Business sentiment remains buoyant. The European Commission's economic sentiment index has been rising for three months (103.8; +0.4 points m/m), driven by an improvement in industry (-4.2; +1.3 pt). Indices of production expectations for the months ahead and of stocks of finished products are improving.
Business climate is deteriorating: the services PMI (48.9) catch up the industrial PMI (45.4) in contraction territory in April, as does the composite PMI (48.2). The index of new export orders in the manufacturing sector (not taken into account in the calculation of the manufacturing PMI) plunges and approaches the lows reached during Covid.
A Downbeat Business Climate. The ISM Manufacturing index has declined for 4 consecutive months, and reached 48.6 in April (-0.2pp). Production, employment and new orders were all in contraction territory. The price-paid index (69.8) stood at its highest since 2022. Meanwhile, the ISM Non-Manufacturing index remained positive but slowed (50.8 in March vs. 54.1 in December 2024).
Services Driving Business Climate Up. Growth in activity resumed in April according to the Composite PMI (51.1, +2.2pp), supported by the Services PMI (52.2, +2.2pp). By contrast, the Manufacturing PMI remained in contraction territory (48.5, +0.1pp), penalized by the largest deterioration in new orders since February 2024.
Widespread deterioration. The official PMI for the manufacturing sector fell to 49 in April (from 50.5 in March) and the Caixin PMI fell to 50.4 (from 51.2 in March). The decline is widespread across all sub-components and heralds a significant slowdown in activity after the rebound in March. These are the immediate consequences of the new 145% tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese imports.
Since WWII ended, 80 years ago this week, the US dollar has been the unparalleled dominant currency at the center of the international monetary and financial system. Every now and then, questions have arisen about this dominance and for brief periods became front page material in the financial press. Despite the excitement invariably elicited, the answer was always, sit tight, nothing is going to change. This time feels different. In particular, financial markets’ reaction to the “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, whereby the dollar and US Treasuries sold off instead of being bought as the safe haven of last resort like in all previous crises. But it would be premature to call the end of dollar dominance.
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Every Spring and Fall, economic and financial policymakers from the whole world gather in Washington DC for the IMF/WB Meetings. Thousands of private financial sector professionals tag along. All over town, in both formal and informal settings, participants share and compare with their peers their own assessments of the world’s economic prospects. In my 25 years of taking part in these Meetings, this was one of the most interesting ones, with a pervasive sense among participants of living through a pivotal moment of economic history. In what follows, I offer a distillation of what this global pulse-check revealed.
For several years now, Italy has had to generate primary budget surpluses in order to stabilize its public debt. The current level of fiscal deficits and the foreseeable increase in interest payments are likely to put the United States, the United Kingdom, and France in a similar situation in the coming years. These countries will ultimately have to balance their primary budgets if they want to stabilize their public debt.
• The euro area government deficit decreased in 2024 to -3.1% of GDP.• Italy and Greece posted primary surpluses even though their interest costs remain high• The fiscal adjustment that still needs to be provided by the countries whose deficits increased in 2024 (France, Austria, Belgium, Finland) will nevertheless act as a brake on growth in the zone.
The announcements on April 2, featuring a massive and widespread (albeit differentiated by country) increase in US tariffs, constitute a historic shock. The final extent of the damage and the aftershocks remain to be seen, but there is no doubt that the economic consequences will be negative, starting with the United States. They are already evident in the turbulence on US financial markets. Even if there is a de-escalation in the trade war, which is our base case scenario, uncertainty remains extremely high, and activity will be penalized for a long time.
One direct and immediate consequence of Donald Trump's announcements on 2 April on tariffs, which are reciprocal and reduced in name only, was to accentuate the downside risks to the US economy and to seriously shake up the financial markets. According to our forecasts, the US economy will slow sharply but avoid recession, on the optimistic assumption of a de-escalation in the trade war and an easing of uncertainty.
After the outperformance of 2023-2024, US growth is expected to slow sharply under the impact of the uncertainty and tariff shocks triggered by the new administration. Recession concerns are returning into the spotlight.
The economic scenario for the Eurozone remains dependent on the evolution of the trade conflict and implementation of possible US reciprocal tariffs of 20%. The increase in defence spending will nevertheless support GDP.
Against a backdrop of heightened international competition and trade tensions linked to the United States' new tariff policy, the German economy is seeing its traditional growth drivers challenged. In the short term, the increase in customs duties imposed by the Trump administration will weigh on exports and heighten economic uncertainty.
French growth is set to bottom out in 2025, due to political and trade uncertainties. It should pick up again in 2026, buoyed by a rise in public consumption driven in particular by defence spending and the expected acceleration in German growth.
The mild rebound recorded in Q4 2024 enabled Italy’s real GDP to grow by 0.5% over the year. In 2025, real GDP is expected to grow by 0.8%, while in 2026, it should reach 1.3%. GDP growth is expected to remain subdued in the first part of 2025. It should gain momentum later in the year, mainly driven by consumption, which is projected to benefit from increased disposable income.
Over the next two years, Spanish growth should be stronger than anticipated in our last issue of EcoPerspectives. Continued disinflation and the good performance of the labour market should continue to drive domestic demand, at the expense of foreign trade.
A new government has emerged, with the coalition agreement under immediate pressure from protesting unions and criticism on its underlying assumptions. Growth remains positive, albeit below trend as capex spending could take a hit while net exports still weigh on GDP.
Although the United Kingdom has been penalised less severely than its European neighbours, it has not escaped the 10% tariff floor on US customs duties. The negative impact on activity will add to the pre-existing domestic brakes.
