Governments should accelerate the pace of economic reforms to support the global recovery, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
“Structural reforms can boost long-term growth and welfare but also underpin confidence and take some of the pressure off monetary and fiscal policies to buttress the recovery,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said in an e-mailed statement. “The road to a strong recovery remains fraught with challenges, but measures taken in Europe and the U.S. have reduced the likelihood of a worst-case scenario.”
The OECD made the comments as Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers begin talks in Moscow seeking common ground on currencies after an effort to calm tensions between rich governments backfired.
Euro-area members hit the hardest by the region’s debt crisis, such as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, accelerated reforms last year, while the highest-income countries like Norway, Switzerland and the U.S. have shown “more limited progress,” the OECD said.
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