Calendar 2022 closed on an uncertain and almost ominous note. After a blinder year for the local economy driven by a bout of post-pandemic revenge consumption, the expectation was the cold, hard reality of high inflation and rising interest rates would coalesce into a severe headache.

But three weeks into the new year, things are looking up. A milder-than-expected European winter, a Chinese economy waking after two years of COVID-19 hibernation, signs that global inflation is receding, and supply chains are loosening, all washed down with a couple of Berocca have raised hopes that it won’t be so bad after all.