OECD confirm worldwide recession worse than expected
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has today confirmed that not only is the worldwide recession deepening but countries such as the US, Britain and Japan are amongst the worst positioned economies in the world. The OECD believes that these three countries in particular have made significant errors in their budget assumptions and will need to amend these in the short to medium term.
As an example, the US government's forecast for growth in the economy is a full 6.6 points different to that of the OECD which if correct would lead to an additional $284 billion to $1.7 trillion budget deficit. The UK situation is also very difficult with the difference between government and OECD forecasts around 5.4 points which is a significant discrepancy.
It seems that each and every report released over the last few weeks has suggested, against the views of the UK government, that the UK economy is one of the worst prepared for the downturn we are experiencing today. The fact that the US, Britain and Japan have been singled out by the OECD (as well as the IMF) does not bode well for the immediate future and will ensure that the UK government experience yet more difficult questions.
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