Citigroup sees a ‘less hard’ landing for global economy

Citigroup economists  have slightly raised their global growth forecast and see the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates three times in 2023.

Citigroup sees a “less hard” landing but still expect the world’s economy to grow at the slowest pace in 40 years.

The Wall Street brokerage now sees global growth slowing this year to about 2.2%, 0.25% higher than their previous estimate.

The reason is improving macroeconomic trends, according to a note by economists led by Nathan Sheets.

GOLDMAN SACHS EXPECTS 3 MORE FED RATE HIKES THIS YEAR

Citigroup outlined its cautious pessimism based on three points: China’s stronger and clearer economic outlook, stagnation in the euro area as opposed to a contraction estimated earlier and resilience in the United States.

Producer prices accelerated in January by the biggest margin in seven months, and another report showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell.

BOND YIELD NEARS 4% FOR 10-YEAR TREASURY, 2-YEAR NEARS 2007 HIGH

Citigroup said it expected the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike rates three times this year, taking the Fed funds rate beyond 5%.

That follows views presented last week by Bank of America and Golden Sachs.

The U.S. Fed will release the minutes of its latest meeting on Wednesday, which will give traders a glimpse of how high officials are projecting interest rates will go after recent data

STICKY INFLATION OPENS DOOR TO STEEPER FED RATE HIKE IN MARCH

Before the latest data was released, a majority of the economists expected the Fed to raise rates at least twice more in coming months, according to a Reuters poll.

Reuters contributed to this report.