Bank of America Corp.’s chief financial officer said prospects for a US recession are getting dimmer amid robust consumer spending.
(Bloomberg) — Bank of America Corp.’s chief financial officer said prospects for a US recession are getting dimmer amid robust consumer spending.
“It’s difficult to see a US recession when the consumer is spending 4% more year-over-year,” Alastair Borthwick said at the company’s annual financials CEO conference Wednesday. “The consensus would say a very small recession, pushed out.”
US consumers are still spending on goods and travel, with credit- and debit-card payments elevated, according to Borthwick. At the same time, consumer asset quality remains “very strong,” he said. “We anticipate a potential recession at some point in the future. Our own economists have really pushed that off.”
Economists at the Federal Reserve are no longer predicting a recession, and BofA’s own economists scrapped their prediction for one several weeks ago, becoming the first large Wall Street bank to officially reverse its call amid growing optimism about the economic outlook.
In the wide-ranging discussion, Borthwick also reiterated the bank’s forecast for net interest income — the revenue collected from loan payments minus what depositors are paid — of about $14.2 billion to $14.3 billion for the third quarter.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.