Current concerns about imminent recession risk seem overstated, but slow global growth has become even more persistent. In Europe, consumer demand remains strong, while the investment outlook has also improved somewhat as banks signal increased demand for loans amid historically low credit standards. European exporters have not benefited much from the low euro yet, though export volume expectations have been broadly stable in recent months, despite rising concerns over the Emerging Markets outlook. Issues on the policy side are slowly building up, such as the Greece debt crisis as well as the Brexit referendum, which might be held as early as June this year.