We have even begun to observe some signs of recovery in the demand for IT-related goods, although we have not yet fully confirmed the extent of their adjustment. In these circumstances, pessimistic views on the economic outlook have receded, and an increasing number of people have become confident about a rebound of world economic growth from the second half of this year.
For example, in the United States the so-called central tendency of projected real GDP growth for 2003 among members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has been revised upward, to 2.5 to 2.75 percent. This projection implies that real GDP growth would rise to the 3 percent level for the second half of 2003, from around 2 percent for the first half.