2023 began with looming fears around high inflation, monetary tightening and a potential recession but ended on a much more positive note. With recession worries generally dissipated and the Fed signaling it will begin rate easing, many market participants have shifted to a rosier outlook. However, on the opposite spectrum, some believe the markets have gotten ahead of themselves and significant challenges remain.
In FTI Consulting’s sixth annual lender survey, respondents appear to take a middle ground between these two schools of thought. Lender respondents are cautiously optimistic that the worst effects of the Fed’s tightening cycle are behind us – but are not so sure that low rates are just around the corner.