OECD Inflation Countries Recorded a Decline in March to 7.7%

The annual inflation rate was 7.7 percent in March in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, down from 8.8 percent in February, the international grouping said on Thursday.

The decline resulted from easing energy prices in OECD countries. Energy inflation in March was 1.3 percent, compared to 11.9 percent in February, according to the announcement reported by Anadolu Agency.

The highest level of annual inflation was 10.7 percent in October 2022, the organization reminded. Annual inflation decreased in March in 34 out of 38 OECD countries.

At the lowest level, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland recorded inflation rates below four percent, while inflation in Hungary and Turkey still exceeded 20 percent, the statement added.

On the Group of Seven sides, annual inflation slowed to 5.4 percent in March from 6.4 percent in February.

Annual inflation in the Eurozone fell to 6.9 percent from 8.5 percent, while in the Group of 20, it fell to 6.9 from eight percent in the same period.

The OECD Has Raised Its Global Growth Forecasts for 2023 and 2024

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development today raised forecasts for world economic growth, citing slowing inflation and the reopening of China, but believes that the recovery is still uncertain given the major difficulties of some banks.

In a new report, the OECD predicts that world economic growth will be 2.6 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024.

Compared to the latest economic forecasts of the OECD in November, 0.4 percentage points raised the rate of world economic growth for this year and by 0.2 percentage points for next year.

The organization published new data amid the banking crisis, assessing that raising interest rates could continue to reveal financial weaknesses due to high borrowing and excessive valuation of some assets, as recently shown by the closure or rescue of certain American banks.