OECD headquarters in Paris PARIS, Mar 06 (AFP): Global trade tensions and political uncertainty are weighing on the world's economy, the OECD warned Wednesday, cutting its global growth forecast for this year to 3.3 per cent, down from the 3.5 per cent it predicted in November.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which groups the world's top developed economies, also warned of potential risks including China's slowdown sharpening and knock-on effects in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
"High policy uncertainty, ongoing trade tensions, and a further erosion of business and consumer confidence are all contributing to the slowdown," the Paris-based OECD said in an interim version of its Economic Outlook.
The OECD revised growth downwards in almost all of the countries in the G20 group of industrialised and emerging nations.
The 19-nation eurozone was particularly hard hit, with predicted growth dropping from 1.8 per cent to one per cent.
The growth forecast for European powerhouse Germany sunk to 0.7 per cent from 1.4, while Italy's was slashed from 0.9 per cent to -0.2.
The OECD said the sharp downturn in the two countries reflected "their relatively high exposures to the global trade slowdown compared with that of France", which dropped from 1.5 per cent to 1.3.
Britain's forecast was chopped to 0.8 per cent from 1.4 -- but the OECD emphasised that this projection was based on the assumption of a smooth Brexit.
If Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal-the two sides are currently in talks ahead of the scheduled leave date on March 29 -- the OECD said its outlook would be "significantly weaker".
"OECD analysis suggests that the increase in tariffs between the two economies as a result of WTO rules coming into effect would reduce GDP by around two per cent (relative to baseline) in the United Kingdom in the next two years."
It also warned a disorderly Brexit "would raise the costs for European economies substantially".
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