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World
Economic Activity To Fall
Accra, Nov. 11, Ghanadot/GNA - Economic activity is
projected to fall by 0.9 per cent in the United States next
year as Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) countries enter a protracted slowdown,
according to latest projections.
That of Euro area would fall by 0.5 per cent with that of
Japan going down by 0.1 per cent in Japan, a release from
the World Bank Office in Accra said on Thursday.
Presenting OECD's gross domestic product (GDP), inflation
and unemployment forecasts for these three major economies
ahead of the G20 Summit on the financial crisis on 15
November, Jorgen Elmeskov, Director of Policy Studies in the
OECD's Economics Department, said a high degree of
uncertainty surrounded the outlook.
He said much would depend on the depth and duration of the
financial crisis, the main driver of the current recession,
adding that the ongoing adjustment in housing markets still
had a long way to go.
Mr Elmeskov said GDP for the OECD countries as a whole was
expected to fall by 0.3 per cent year-on-year in 2009 before
recovering slightly to grow by 1.5 per cent in 2010.
The average unemployment rate in the OECD area, estimated at
5.9 per cent this year, is forecast to climb to 6.9 per cent
next year and to reach 7.2 per cent in 2010.
Inflation should continue to ease as economic slack puts
downward pressure on prices and if, as assumed, commodity
prices maintained their recent lower levels.
Against this backdrop, additional macroeconomic stimulus was
needed, Elmeskov said.
GNA
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