BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  While mature markets, in particular the UK and the euro area, continue to face sharp risks of prolonged sub-par growth, Asia and Africa, have emerged as the two fastest-growing continents in the world. Asia, resilient in the face of prolonged softening in external demand, is being hailed as the new axis of development.
If that happens, this might have significant adverse effects on the global economy through a downgrading of U.S. government bonds and an associated rise in premiums transmitting to markets in other countries, inducing a rise in long-term interest rates, a plunge in stock prices, and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.