Chinese, Indian Economies Slowing: OECD

The OECD today released its composite leading indicators (CLIs) for April, noting that national economies are diverging, with some expanding moderately, while others contract. The US, Japan, and Russia continue to improve, but “deceleration … provides tentative signs that growth may moderate in the near term.”

The economies of France and Italy remain “sluggish,” while the CLIs for Germany, Canada, the UK, and the Eurozone “continue to point towards economic activity slightly below” trend.

The OECD report also notes that both China and India are headed toward lower levels of economic activity, while Brazil is turning positive but with “weaker intensity.”

Only the US and Japan show year-over-year improvement in the month of April, while the biggest drops came in Germany and Italy. Economic activity in the Eurozone and in China also fell, but for different reasons. The Eurozone is facing a financial crisis that it simply doesn’t want to fix, while China had its foot on the brake of the country’s economy until just last week.

The OECD press release is available here.

Paul Ausick