The Paris-based OECD said its latest monthly leading indicator as a whole rose to 100.6 in April from 100.5 in March
The major developed economies are gradually gaining momentum led by faster growth in Japan and the US, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday.
The Paris-based OECD said its latest monthly leading indicator as a whole rose to 100.6 in April from 100.5 in March. The slight improvement brought the measure, which covers 33 OECD members and is designed to indicate turning points in economic activity, further above the long-term average of 100.
In its twice-yearly Economic Outlook last month, the OECD forecast that the recession-hit Euro zone would fall further behind a generally improving US and a rebounding Japan this year, cutting its global growth estimates. The monthly leading indicator underlined this, suggesting that the US and Japan were the only countries among major economies where growth is firming.
Meanwhile among the major emerging nations, China and Brazil are ticking along at trend rates, while growth in Russia is "losing momentum" and in India it remains below par.
The OECD said that its index of leading indicators shows the Euro zone overall appearing to pick up some momentum with growth in Germany "returning to trend" and a "positive change" in Italy.
However for France, which has fallen into recession, it "does not indicate any change in momentum," the OECD said in its monthly report. The OECD's conclusions are based on Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs) that are designed to anticipate turning points in economic activities.
India's CLI stood at 97.3 in April, same as in February and March. In January, the reading was better at 97.5. India's economic growth slowed to a decade-low of five per cent in the last financial year from 6.2 per cent in the 2010-11 period.
Last month, the OECD had scaled down India's growth estimate to 5.3 per cent for 2013 from 5.9 per cent.
