The economic outlook for the UK and Europe is poor with little or no growth expected in 2013. The US economy has slowed down as well although the latest bout of unlimited QE provided stimulus to the US housing market in September 2012. The US has a strong productive manufacturing base and hence the outlook for 2013 is slightly better than expected in Europe. However, the prospect of the US “fiscal cliff” in April leaves considerable uncertainty in the market.
We can expect the Western economies to continue to cut public sector spending in Healthcare, defence and other sectors. Businesses and investors looking for growth will explore opportunities in the emerging markets. Countries such as China, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and possibly India will be expected to continue to grow over the next few years. China in particular continues to spend heavily on infrastructure projects both at home and overseas.