As the global elite descend upon Davos this week, they will have a smattering of optimistic titbits to enliven otherwise awkward conversations about the bleak economic outlook for 2023. For starters, inflation appears to be peaking across the world. In the US it fell to its lowest in more than a year. Across the pond, European natural gas prices have dropped to pre-Ukraine invasion levels. The latest data have made some analysts hopeful that annual global growth will not be as glum as the World Bank’s 1.7 per cent forecast released earlier last week. But uncertainty has not abated — and one wild card question that will loom large over the forum’s deliberations is what China’s surprisingly rapid reopening will mean for the global economy.
隨著全球精英本周齊聚達沃斯(Davos)，將有一些樂觀的小話題供他們討論，從而活躍有關2023年黯淡經濟前景的尷尬對話。首先，全球通脹似乎正在見頂。在美國，通脹率已跌至一年多來的最低水平。在大西洋彼岸，歐洲天然氣價格已跌至俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭前的水平。最新數據讓一些分析師抱有希望，認為全球年度經濟增速不會像世界銀行(World Bank)上周早些時候發布的預測——增長1.7%——那樣讓人灰心。但不確定性并未減弱，一個難以估量的問題將是此次論壇的討論繞不過去的：中國出人意料地迅速重新開放對全球經濟意味著什么？