Sri Lanka, March 12 -- Global economic growth should be steady this year provided the current oil price shock is not prolonged, Fitch Ratings says in its latest March 2026 Global Economic Outlook (GEO).
The world economy has held up well despite a succession of geopolitical and US policy shocks. World growth was 2.7% last year, close to its long-run average. Assuming that the recent jump in oil prices is relatively short-lived, Fitch anticipates only a slight slowdown in 2026 to 2.6%, revised from 2.4% in December's GEO.
Surging AI-related investment, large fiscal deficits in the US and China, and a boost to US consumption from equity market gains helped offset the impact of higher US tariffs last year. We expect US consumption to slow in...