risen to 13%, and in Mexico, fewer new loans are being originated. But this is part of the nature of economic cycles. As Jose puts it, “Through economic cycles during crisis, or slowdowns, or recessions, there are always new opportunities.” Chris Kneen, Provenir’s GM of UKI, points to stagnation, recent inflation, rising interest rates, the political unrest and cabinet reshuffle, and the accelerating cost of living as clear signs of economic uncertainty in the region. Corinne Lleti, GM of Southern Europe, is seeing similar signs including rising inflation, remaining shortages from COVID-19, rising interest rates, and price increases. “Generally, the underlying problem is the whole financial services industry is based on confidence – and people’s confidence levels are low – which is making us realize how interconnected things are.” Meanwhile, many African countries are dependent on international funding, and the strengthening of western currencies against African currencies has resulted in a higher cost of borrowing, which is compounded by an increase in interest rates and relative scarcity of funding. However, in the Middle East, “the price of crude oil was up 73% year over year in May 2022 and coupled with the relatively stable governments and pegged currencies, has resulted in a much more favorable economic outlook for the region,” according to Adrian Pillay, GM of MEA. In the Middle East in 2022, GDP growth will be up 40% versus 2021, and “while inflation is equally the highest it has been in years, the robust economy is abating the economic uncertainty sentiment.” Bharath Vellore, GM of APAC for Provenir, shares that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently downgraded its economic growth forecasts for the region, based on worldwide challenges including supply chains affected by COVID-19, the war in the Ukraine, and government fiscal policies. Inflation rates across the region have risen between April and September (5.8% to 6.7% in India, 3.7% to 5.2% in Southeast and South Asia), and “as a result consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending, and lenders are shoring up capital while becoming more cautious with their funding.”
Read on for more about what’s happening in various regions around the globe:
Canada
United States
Latin America UK + Ireland
Middle East + Africa
Europe
Asia-Pacific
India
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