In the United States and Europe, while the panicked contraction of economic and financial activity settled down mainly due to the provision of ample liquidity by the central banks, public capital injections to financial institutions, and large-scale fiscal expenditure, chronic downward pressure on the economy is likely to continue in the form of balance-sheet adjustments.
Therefore, although the economies are picking up, the pace of recovery is generally moderate. In emerging and commodity-exporting economies, the underlying trend of domestic demand in many of them is generally strong, reflecting the buoyant consumption associated with an improvement in the standard of living and the need for improving social infrastructure.