The 71st Annual Report of the Bank for International Settlements for the financial year which began on 1 April 2000 and ended on 31 March 2001 was submitted to the Bank's Annual General Meeting held in Basel on 11 June 2001.
Introduction: a sudden change of fortunes?
The most significant development during the period under review was the sharp slowing of the US economy beginning in the second half of last year. Although a slowdown had long been expected, and even desired, its suddenness was remarkable for a variety of reasons. It seemed to mark the ending of, or at very least a significant pause in, the decade-long global expansion in which the US economy had played a disproportionate but welcome role (see Chapter II). It was accompanied by an apparent interruption of recovery in Japan, as well as by a slowdown in many emerging markets (see Chapter III) and, albeit to a considerably lesser degree, in Europe. And it profoundly disappointed those who had hoped that a “new economy” based on information technology had made both inventory cycles and sharp fluctuations in investment spending a thing of the past.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the BIS member central banks.