OECD upgrades eurozone and China growth forecasts; UK and US unchanged

Forecasts for growth of the eurozone and China have been upgraded by the OECD, as global growth increases this year and next.

The OECD upped its forecasts for the eurozone to 2.1% for this year, up three basis points from its previous 1.8% estimate, and increased its 2018 forecast by one point to 1.9%.

China is now predicted to grow 6.8% in 2017 and 6.6% in 2018, both up two basis points from prior estimates, as the OECD's world growth forecast was kept at 3.5% for this year but hiked to 3.7% from 3.6% for 2018.

Japan's expected growth was a contributing factor, with the forecast for this year and next upped by two points to 1.6% and 1.2%.

The OECD's UK forecasts were left unchanged at 1.6% for 2017 and 1.0% for 2018, as were those for the US at 2.1% and 2.4% respectively.