Unfortunately, the pace of economic activity in EMEs has been on a downward path since 2011, and 2016 could well mark the sixth consecutive year of declining output growth in these economies. Even if the expectation of a slight increase in EMEs GDP growth for this year materializes, the differential vis-à-vis the AEs would still narrow to levels not seen since the early 2000s.
It is important to emphasize that the recent performance has so far only slowed, but not reversed or even stopped, the global convergence process. However, the persistent deceleration of EMEs over a time span of several years, and its generalization across countries and regions, certainly raise important concerns.