OECD Raises Economy Outlook for First Time in Two Years on U.S.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development raised its forecast for the economy of its 30 member nations for the first time in two years as the U.S. slump shows signs of easing.

The combined economy of the world’s most-industrialized countries will shrink 4.1 percent this year and grow 0.7 percent in 2010, the Paris-based group, which was founded in 1961 to coordinate international economic policies, said today. The new projections compare with March forecasts for contractions of 4.3 percent and 0.1 percent.

The improved outlook conflicts with that of the World Bank, which this week said the global recession will be deeper than it predicted three months ago. In anticipating a weak recovery staggered across different economies, the OECD signaled that the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan should not raise interest rates before 2011 and recommended the European Central Bank cut its benchmark further.