SINGAPORE (May 25): Relatively weak consumption growth is likely to persist across G7 nations this year, says Oxford Economics on the belief that the impact of a recovery in real incomes will be dampened by higher oil prices and waning wealth effects going forward.

The research firm’s baseline forecast is for G7 household spending growth to remain broadly stable in 2018, but for the key drivers – namely income, housing wealth, equity wealth and interest rates – to rotate.

“Central banks appear to have pulled off a remarkable – albeit grating – stability in post-crisis G7 activity and consumption. Ultra-loose monetary policy helped slow household deleveraging, which is only now complete in the major economies,” remarks Gabriel Sterne, Oxford Economics’ head of global macro research, in a global research briefing report on Thursday... (Click here to read the full story)