The MSCI World Index fell 5.8 percent in the previous week, the steepest decline since the coronavirus began to spread - particularly since March 2020. This was due to the negative dynamics prevailing on stock exchanges around the world. Fears of a recession, not just in the U.S. but in the world as a whole, which are forcing investors to walk away from risk, are amplified by a number of factors. Among them are negative economic consequences of unprecedented sanctions on the part of the West, which have hit the economies of many states, spurred price growth and reduced living standards of the population. In addition, on the one hand, this is a soaring inflation rate to record levels for several decades in various countries, including the U.S., on the other hand - the attempts of the world central banks to combat it, forced to resort to harsh measures. For example, the recent increase of the key rate by 75 basis points in the U.S. was the sharpest since 1994, and in Switzerland it was raised for the first time in 15 years. The pressure is also on economic activity in China amid a surge in coronavirus.