By David Hodari A growing wave of fiscal stimulus and the continuing rollout of coronavirus vaccinations are helping to brighten this year s outlooks for economic growth and oil demand, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Thursday. In its closely-scrutinized monthly market report, OPEC increased its global oil demand forecast by as much as 200,000 barrels a day and its forecast for global economic growth by 0.3 percentage points to 5.1%. The cartel cited the U.S. s latest $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus bill and the continuing recovery in Asian economies in its move. In its report, OPEC pointed to the uncertainty facing the oil market in the coming months, decreasing its global demand estimate for the first half of the year due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions but increasing its demand forecast for the second half of the year as economic activity is expected to accelerate as the impact of the pandemic is expected to taper off.
World output is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021 and the global economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2022 after seeing 5.6 per cent growth in 2021, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Outlook issued on Tuesday.The
GDP figures confirm economic recovery
By Cameron Micallef
03 March 2021
|
1 minute read
SHARE
Australia’s GDP has grown by 3.1 per cent during the December quarter, beating market expectations of a 2.5 per cent increase, official figures show.
ABS figures have shown the economy has recovered by 3 per cent of the second consecutive quarter, which has not happened for over 60 years.
However, despite the rapid recovery, the ABS states Australia’s economic activity remains 1.1 per cent lower than recorded in the 2019 December quarter.
The economic recovery was largely driven by household spending, which is up by 4.3 per cent, with pre-Christmas sales and Victoria emerging from lockdown strongly contributing to the growth in spending.