The global economy has been on a rollercoaster ride since 2020, with lockdowns and economic uncertainty causing widespread disruptions. Despite early hopes of a quick recovery, the pandemic's impact on businesses and individuals has been far-reaching.The high demand for goods and services has led to supply chain snarl-ups, driving up prices. On the other hand, waning demand has led to a decline in sales and revenue for many businesses.Further adding to the current woes has been soaring inf lation. Prices for many goods and services have increased, leading to concerns about the long-term impact on economies. Central banks have been struggling to balance the need to support economic growth with the need to prevent inf lation from spiralling out of control.According to Bimco’s Niels Rasmussen, freight rates, time charter rates, and second-ship values will remain under pressure throughout 2023 and 2024. The IMF is predicting global GDP growth of 2.9% in 2023 and 3.1% in 2024, underscoring the fact that while the balance of risks remains weighted on the downside, it remains a risky environment.“Despite an improvement in the global economic outlook, we have lowered our demand growth expectation for 2023 while increasing it for 2024,” he said. “In 2023, we now expect growth in head-haul and regional trades to end in the 1-2% range rather than the 3-4% that had been previously predicted.”
