TUMULTUOUS YEAR FOR THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

2008 was a tumultuous year for the global economy. While the surge in commodity prices led to strong inflationary pressures in the first half of the year, the onset of the global financial crisis caused world growth to fall sharply in the later part of 2008 and into early 2009. The emergence of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus in recent months has added a new dimension of risk to the fragile global economy.