By Paul Hannon 
 

The fast-spreading Delta variant of Covid-19 has slowed the pace of the global economic recovery, but won't derail it, according to new forecasts released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on Tuesday.

In its latest quarterly report on the economic outlook, the Paris-based research body lowered its growth forecasts for the global and U.S. economies in 2021, the first downgrade since December last year, when new infections were surging.

But it also raised its forecasts for next year, indicating that some output has been delayed by, rather than lost to, the surge in cases caused by the Delta variant. It also raised its forecasts for inflation this year, but continues to expect that the pace of price rises will ease in 2022 as vaccination programs advance in Asia and other parts of the world.

The OECD lowered its growth forecast for the U.S. economy in 2021 to 6% from the 6.9% it had projected in May, and trimmed its global growth forecast to 5.7% from 5.8%. It raised its growth forecast for the eurozone, but left its projection for China unchanged despite worries about the country's property market.

Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2021 05:14 ET (09:14 GMT)