Uk economic recovery to continue into 2016, forecasts oecd

Britain’s economic recovery will continue into 2015 and 2016, driven by consumer spending and business investment, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The Paris-based thinktank said high job creation had fuelled UK growth, which it forecasts at 3% this year. The OECD is predicting growth of 2.7% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016.

“Private consumption has been the main engine of the expansion, amid strong job creation, and business investment continues to recover strongly, supported by diminishing uncertainty,” the OECD said in its latest economic outlook report.

UK export growth has been weak so far, the organisation noted. It said exports could weaken further if eurozone growth comes in below expectations.

Wage growth – which has been unexpectedly weak in 2014 – should start to pick up, it said, adding: “Stimulating retraining and encouraging migration in occupations where shortages arise would reduce labour mismatches and support balanced growth through higher productivity.”

The OECD cautioned however that if productivity does not recover as expected, it could translate into weaker UK growth.

“Robust productivity is an essential condition for strong and sustainable growth, and uncertainty over its recovery is a major risk to the projection.”

The Guardian, November 25^th, 2014

Useful terms and expressions

• a thinktank – «мозговой» центр, аналитический центр

• to fuel – стимулировать, способствовать

• to diminish – уменьшать, убавлять, сокращать

• outlook – перспектива, прогноз

• so far – пока, до настоящего времени, до сих пор

• mismatch – несоответствие, расхождение

TEXT 4

Translate the article into Russian orally.

China Inflation Rate Steady for Third Straight Month

BEIJING – China’s consumer-inflation rate held steady in April, giving the central bank more leeway to ease monetary policy as the world’s second-largest economy battles weak demand.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday that China’s consumer-price index rose 2.3% from a year earlier in April, unchanged for the third consecutive month. The CPI figure undershot a median 2.4% gain forecast by 15 economists in a survey by The Wall Street Journal.

China’s economy expanded by 6.7% in the first quarter, its slowest quarterly pace since 2009, bolstered by record credit expansion and ramped-up stimulus spending.

Vegetable and pork prices remained relatively high after the February Lunar New Year holiday, in part due to bad weather and a shortfall in the number of sows and piglets produced by farmers.

On the producer side, too many Chinese factories pumping out more goods than buyers have appetite for has left manufacturers in a four-year battle with deflation, which raises the cost of paying back debt. Beijing recently announced plans to cut overproduction in the steel and coal industries by around 10% over five years, although industry analysts say more is needed to better balance demand and supply.

The Wall Street Journal, May 10^th, 2016