GLOBAL ECONOMY REBOUNDING BUT HEALTH THREATS PERSIST: OECD

The global economic rebound from the pandemic has picked up speed but remains uneven across countries and faces multiple headwinds. Most worrisome: the lack of vaccines in poorer nations, which could lead to new virus variants and more stop-and-go lockdowns, David McHugh reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Those were key points from the latest economic outlook published Monday by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD said that relief and stimulus measures in the more developed world had done much to get the economy through the pandemic recession and back on the path of growth.

It forecast global output would rise 5.8%, raising its forecast from 4.8% during its previous outlook in December.

This year’s predicted rebound follows last year’s contraction of 3.5% and would be the fastest since 1973.

The US economy was expected to grow 6.9%, upgraded from a previously forecast 6.5%. The OECD cited wide-ranging support from government spending on additional unemployment benefits, financial assistance for local governments, and support for low-income households.

OECD chief economist Laurence Boone said that economic prospects “have improved considerably in recent months, and the outlook is brightening ... however, the health situation remains highly uncertain.

The first and main risk ... remains the virus.”

Although the OECD said most individual countries would reach pre-pandemic levels of output by the end of 2022, it cautioned that “this is far from enough.”

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