Major economies heading towards slowdown: OECD

Slowdown in the world's leading economies such as the US, the UK and Japan are likely to deepen even further, while the BRIC countries are also showing signs of either a downturn or a slowdown, the 30-member block of industrialised nations OECD said today.

The seven major economies of the world, the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, France, Germany and Italy, are expected to see a continued weakening outlook with cyclical slowdowns at levels not seen so far in this decade, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said, citing its Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs) data for September 2008.

The CLI is an analytical instrument of OECD designed to provide early signals of turning points between upswings and downswings in the growth cycle of economic activity.

OECD also noted that the latest data for major non-OECD countries also point towards a downturn in China and a slowdown in Russia and India.

"The message from Brazil is mixed by the latest data showing tentative signs of a possible downturn," the OECD said.

The CLI for the United Kingdom fell by 1.4 points in September 2008 and was 7.5 points lower than a year ago.

According to the OECD, CLI for China decreased 0.7 point in August 2008 and was 3.2 points lower than a year ago. The CLI for India fell by one point in August 2008 and was 6.6 points lower than in August 2007. Also the CLI for Russia decreased by 2.7 points in September and was 2.2 points lower than a year ago.