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Paris - The outlook for the world's major economies is
continuing to darken, according to latest data from the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published on Monday, which showed
sharp falls in leading indicators for all countries except Japan.
The Paris-based OECD said its composite leading indicator
(CLI) for its 33 member countries dropped for a fifth straight month in August,
hitting 100.8 after 101.4 in July and signalling a slowdown in economic
activity.
Individual country readings fell across the board, including
for non-OECD member countries, with most seeing their CLIs drop below their
long-term average of 100.
Only Germany, Russia and the United States kept readings
above 100. Japan, meanwhile, stood out as the only country not yet headed for a
clear slowdown, registering a modest 1-point decline in its CLI to 102.5 from
102.6.
"For all other major economies, except Japan, the CLIs
are now pointing strongly to a slowdown in economic activity below long-term
trend," the OECD said.
The OECD CLIs are designed to anticipate turning points in
economic activity relative to trend - a turnaround in an indicator tends to
precede turning points in economic activity by about six months.
The consensus at the moment is that many major Western
economies are teetering on the brink of recession, as they struggle to repay
inflated debt levels.
The OECD's reading for the Group of Seven major economies - France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States - slumped to 101.1 in August from 101.7 in July, while the reading for the euro area fell 9 points, to 99.8 from 100.7.
