INDUSTRY

For more information on Air Filtration and Purification World Market, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/108-n022.

• United States
• Canada
• Uruguay

• China
• India
• Malaysia
• Singapore

• Ghana
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• Qatar
• Russia
• Turkey
• United Kingdom

Even in January Canada’s economy had a bit of spring in its step, suggesting the first quarter may not be as bad as feared.

Gross domestic product expanded 0.5% in the month, snapping back from December’s loss, when a major ice storm in Ontario exacted a steep toll on the economy. And the economy is expected to gain further traction in the months ahead as U.S. growth strengthens and boosts demand for Canadian exports.

"Underlying growth in the economy appears slightly better than expected." according to BMO Capital Markets chief economist, Douglas Porter. Although a severe winter is widely expected to have weighed on growth in the first three months of 2014, slowing from the 2.9% annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2013, some economists are revising their projections higher after January’s GDP data…(The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

The Indian economy is expected to grow 5.5% in 2014-15 on the back of improved performance in industry and services and will inch up to 6% in 2015-16 as external demand improves due to the strength in advanced economies, the Asian Development Bank said recently. The 5.5% estimate is slightly lower than its previous forecast of 5.7% growth.

The government moves to open up some of the structural bottlenecks that have impeded industry and investment is also likely to have an impact on overall growth, the ADB said in its latest outlook. However, it cautioned that economic recovery would be a long haul.

"Economic recovery would have to be led by improved investment and consumption, but the prospects do not appear promising at this stage. Elevated inflation, a tight monetary stance, and a weak currency will continue to constrain spending. Further, fiscal austerity is likely to be an additional drag on growth," the ADB said. (The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) announced in mid-March that it expected UK GDP to reach pre-2007 levels by this summer, a quarter earlier than originally expected. Furthermore, the outlook for 2015 has also been bumped up, with GDP increasing from an expected 2.4% to 2.5%, and is predicted to remain stable – holding onto this rate throughout 2016.

The immediate impact of this optimism will, of course, be the long-awaited rise in interest rates, which has been at a record low of 0.5% for the past five years. The BCC has predicted that the rates are likely to rise in Q3 2015, but will only be nudged up to 0.75%, and will step up incrementally by 0.25% each quarter until it reaches 1.5% in H2 2016. However, it would appear that the BCC's outlook is conservative, as the wider consensus around the base rate is that it will rise to 1% in Q3 2014, and then up to 2-2.5% in the following 12 months.

The question on many private equity practitioners' minds will be the impact of the rate rise on outstanding debt held by portfolio companies. According to Gary Edwards of Investec's growth and acquisition finance team, the levels of restructuring seen in 2013 (which accounted for more than 80% of debt transactions across Europe) are likely to continue throughout 2014 in anticipation of the increase: "Private equity will need to deal with debt structures before the [interest] rate increases." (The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

A complete analysis of GDP and Monthly Updates for individual countries is included as part of Air Filtration and Purification World Market.

For more information on Air Filtration and Purification World Market, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/108-n022.

New power generation projects are tracked in two publications. Fossil and Nuclear Power Generation includes both market forecasts and project data. World Power Generation Projects has just the project data.

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