DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) – A prevailing sense of anxiety was in the air in the Swiss ski resort of Davos as the World Economic Forum kicked off Wednesday with delegates fretting about the turbulence in financial markets, slowdown in China and plunging oil prices.
As global stock markets suffered another day of hefty losses and oil prices sank to fresh 12-year lows, there was a high degree of concern about the outlook for the global economy this year.
High on the agenda was plunging oil prices and how they’re connected to China’s slowing Chinese economy.
The uncertainty across markets is one factor that’s preventing businesses from investing in the future, and using huge cash surpluses to finance new research and development projects, said Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, which on Tuesday cut its global growth forecasts.
Paul Singer, CEO of hedge fund Elliot Management, said banks remain too leveraged eight years on from the global financial crisis that sent the world spiraling into its deepest recession since World War II.