The economy is being challenged from all sides

Last year gave us resilient growth, lower inflation and long-awaited rate cuts. Global growth will be just over 3 per cent annually in 2025‒2026, but multifaceted political and structural forces are challenging the economy. The focus is on households; consumption should drive growth as new tariffs and trade barriers risk weakening both industry and trade. The big risk to growth is that politics, with Trump and the US in the spotlight, will deliberately or accidentally worsen the conditions for economic growth, the disinflation process and financial markets.