The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, May 3, edition that the U.S. fears of a recession are growing, while the European economy barely scraped out growth in the first three months of the year. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that on top of that, turmoil in the U.S. banking system has complicated interest-rate decisions. The U.S. government seized First Republic Bank and engineered its sale to JPMorgan Chase on Monday, the third bank collapse in recent months -- following Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. Those failures have raised concerns about the impact of rapidly rising interest rates on banks that may have failed to anticipate those changes and suffered losses. Increased scrutiny could make banks more reluctant to risk lending to people and businesses, further tightening credit as central banks hike rates. The European Central Bank, however, went ahead with a half-point increase in March, just days after Silicon Valley Bank went under and the financial uncertainty enveloped long-troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, leading to its government-orchestrated takeover by UBS.