The global economy will be out of the doldrums by the second half of next year, a senior pan-European fund manager predicted at a Friends First investment conference in Dublin yesterday. Dr Arnab Banerji, chairman of group investment policy at F&C Management, said that a combination of interest rate cuts and fiscal stimuli would drive the recovery, which would be led by the United States. Despite the current uncertainty in world equity markets, Dr Banerji is predicting a strong bounce back in equities.