The U.S. economy will grow at a “sluggish” pace that could be challenging for the financial- services industry, said UBS AG Chairman Axel Weber.
“We are picking up momentum, but not in an accelerated way,” Weber said Wednesday in an interview on CNBC.
The economy probably will grow at about 2.5 percent this year and “it’s probably going to go back to 3 percent” in 2014, he said.
The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter, according to Commerce Department figures released Dec. 20.
“It’s going to be a sluggish and muted recovery that we’ll see and that’s going to provide a challenging environment for banks,” said Weber, 55, who was in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
UBS, based in Zurich, is the biggest Swiss bank.
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