Eurozone growth speeds

PARIS – The eurozone economy is set to grow by 2,7 per cent this year and the European Central Bank should continue tightening interest rates, the OECD said yesterday upgrading prospects for European expansion.

The economies of the G7 industrialised countries are set to grow overall by three per cent, the OECD also forecast, raising its estimate of 2,9 per cent in May. The US economy should pick up in the third quarter, possibly justifying further interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve, and Japanese expansion is set to continue owing to business investment and consumer spending, the OECD said in an interim report on the economic outlook.The report said that the eurozone had expanded quickly in the second quarter driven by a one-off effect from the soccer World Cup, spending in the German construction sector and falling unemployment across the 12-country area.”Given the stronger-than-expected momentum in the first half (in the eurozone), year-average GDP growth is now slated to reach 2,7 per cent,” OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said, raising the forecast from a previous 2,2 per cent.Nampa-AFPThe US economy should pick up in the third quarter, possibly justifying further interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve, and Japanese expansion is set to continue owing to business investment and consumer spending, the OECD said in an interim report on the economic outlook.The report said that the eurozone had expanded quickly in the second quarter driven by a one-off effect from the soccer World Cup, spending in the German construction sector and falling unemployment across the 12-country area.”Given the stronger-than-expected momentum in the first half (in the eurozone), year-average GDP growth is now slated to reach 2,7 per cent,” OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said, raising the forecast from a previous 2,2 per cent.Nampa-AFP