Global growth 'better but not good enough': OECD

PARIS - In its latest economic outlook, the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD) on Wednesday projected accelerated global growth for the 2017-2018 period, saying "greater efforts are needed to ensure that the benefits from growth and globalization are more widely shared."

Updating its last estimate issued on March, the Paris-based think-tank saw global growth in 2017 at 3.5 percent, up by 0.2 percentage. The figure was set to accelerate to 3.6 percent in 2018 due to "stronger business and consumer confidence, rising industrial production and recovering employment and trade flow."

"Among the major advanced economies, the recovery will continue in the United States," the organization estimated.

However, it revised down its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast this year to 2.1 percent this year and 2.4 percent next year from previous estimates of 2.4 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.

The organization report showed a steady outlook for the euro area at 1.8 percent over the period while that of Japan would increase to 1.4 percent this year before slowing to 1.0 percent in 2018.

In China, growth is expected to slow to 6.6 percent in 2017 and 6.4 percent the following year in 2018, according to the OECD data.

"After five years of weak growth, there are signs of improvement. The modest cyclical expansion underway will not, however, be sufficient to sustain strong gains in standards of living across OECD countries," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.

Gurria recommended "deeper, sustained and collective commitment to coherent policy packages that support inclusiveness and productivity growth," to ensure that the benefits of economic recovery would be translated into the improvement of people's standards of living.

"We need a more inclusive, rules-based globalization that works for all, centered on people's well-being," he added.