No global double-dip slump says OECD Chief

Seoul (Reuters): The world economy is slowing down from earlier strength on a collection of factors such as the euro zone’s debt problems and a weak US housing sector, but is not headed for a double-dip slump, the head of the OECD said.

‘No, that is not the case,’ Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), told reporters when asked if recent signs of a slowdown pointed to the global economy facing another downturn.     

He cited political turmoil in the Middle East, debt problems in euro zone economies, higher commodities prices, natural disaster in Japan and problems with the US budgetary negotiations as some of the factors behind the slowdown.     

‘There is recovery. There are positive numbers (although) it is going to be a little softer than we thought initially,’ he said at a news conference in Seoul on the sidelines of a business conference that the OECD co-hosts. But he did not elaborate on the prospects for situations that were still developing