The past two decades have seen the world hit by a series of major shocks. Overall, the global economy has proven resilient so far, but high geopolitical tensions and the conflict in the Middle-East are once again testing this resilience. Looking beyond the short term, global growth prospects appear disappointing – mired by a trend productivity slowdown, weak business dynamism, population ageing, high public debt, rapid digital and technological transitions and climate change. New technologies bring hopes of reviving growth, but these benefits cannot be taken for granted. In these challenging times, reinforcing efforts on sound macro and structural policies will be crucial to strengthening economic growth and improving its resilience and longer-term sustainability.
