UNDER EMBARGO: The economic projections will be live on 21 May 2019.
Going for Growth builds on OECD expertise on structural policy reforms and economic performance to provide policy makers with a set of concrete recommendations on reform areas identified as priorities for strong and inclusive growth. The priorities broadly cover product and labour market regulation, education and training, tax and transfer systems, trade and investment rules, as well as innovation policies. The Going for Growth framework has been instrumental in helping G20 countries make progress on their structural reform agenda, including through monitoring their growth strategies to achieve sustained and balanced growth.
Growth is expected to have risen further to 4½ per cent in 2018, following past strong performance. Domestic demand is fuelled by strong private consumption, reflecting high real income gains, and dynamic business and housing investments. The unemployment rate has fallen to a historically low level and labour shortages have emerged. This has been, accompanied by strong and broad-based wage increases, helping to preserve a high level of income equality, and restarting income convergence. Inflation reached 3.8% in the autumn of 2018, partly as the result of higher energy and food prices, before coming down again. Productivity growth has accelerated, although it remains well below real wage growth and the rate prevailing in the decade prior to the international financial crisis.