During the webinar, we discussed some of the major events of 2022, and the impact it had on markets worldwide:
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, lead to a shock in oil prices, pushing Brent crude above $120 per barrel.
- The war lead to an energy crisis and rising prices in the EU. In South Africa, the unabated Eskom crisis is crimpling the economy.
- Central bankers tried to bring back inflation with unprecedented hikes in interest rates.
- Massive printing of money in 2020/21 lead to inflation spiralling out of control in 2022.
We also dissected the biggest themes of 2023:
- Rising interest rates to slow inflation ultimately have knock-on effects, recessions globally are likely.
- The rising dollar and much higher interest rates, which are likely to persist can cause a sovereign debt crisis, especially in emerging markets.
- China has had a zero Covid policy all along and for that reason China’s growth has been slow, keeping supply chains under pressure, but China is slowly re-opening.