BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - The global economy may be nearing a turning point although financial markets are still underestimating the potential for a recovery, top central bankers said on Monday. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who chaired the central bankers' talks at the Bank for International Settlements, said a return of confidence was crucial to getting the economy back on its feet. "We are in a situation where we still observe a slowing down of the economy," he told a news conference, summing up the central bankers' discussions in the Swiss city of Basel. But there were also some positive elements which investors and financial markets had underestimated, such as the fall in commodity and oil prices, budget stimulus packages, interest rate cuts and governments' commitment not to let important financial institutions fail. "We are identifying a number of elements in the global economy ... that are expansionary," said Trichet, who also chairs the Group of 10 central bankers. "We have a number of elements that are suggesting that we are approaching the moment where we would have a pickup." Trichet noted that international institutions expected an economic contraction this year in industrialized nations and flat growth globally, before a pick-up in 2010. "I would not say that the central bankers would depart from this mainstream analysis," he said. Major central banks have slashed rates to record lows and governments have increased spending as the financial market crisis has extended its reach into emerging markets and confirmed major developed economies, including Japan, the United States and the euro zone, in recession. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5283YL20090309
That quoted title sounds like it should read the sentance ending with an upward inflection and a question mark.