World economic climate: Downturn stopped?

The world economy climate in January 2003 improved slightly over the preceding survey of October 2002. However, at a level of 85.9, it is clearly lower than its long-term average (1989 to 2002) of 93.7. The improvement of the indicator results exclusively from the more confident expectations for the next six months, although judgements of the current economic situation have stagnated. In spite of the geopolitical insecurities, the participants of Ifo's World Economic Survey (WES) expect a slight recovery of the world economy overall.