OECD Suspends Monthly Economic Outlook Indicators Due To Brexit

Paris: The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday that it would suspend publication until September of its flagship economic indicators, as uncertainty created by Britain's vote to leave the European Union could make the data misleading or inaccurate.

Every month, Paris-based think-tank OECD publishes a composite leading indicator for all its member countries, designed to flag early signals of turning points in economic activity.

It said none would be released this month or next to allow for more significant data to be collected.

The OECD has previously suspended publication of the data because of "significant unforeseen or unexpected events". It did so in April and May 2011 following a major earthquake in Japan.

Referring to the impact of Britain's shock vote to leave the EU, the organisation said data collected before the June 23 referendum pointed to stable growth momentum in OECD countries and a pick-up in emerging economies.

However, "the underlying data that capture subsequent and potentially significant changes in expectations will not be available until early September", it said.

The organisation will release its next estimate on September 8.