OECD postpones release of CLIs until April

Citing the irrelevance of indicators that don’t capture the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) cancelled the release of its monthly Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs).

The Paris-based OECD said that while its CLIs have been effective at anticipating economic turning points, even in periods of extreme volatility such as the financial crisis, the current set of data doesn’t adequately incorporate the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“At this time, CLI sub-components for many countries are not yet able to capture the effects of the more widespread Covid-19 outbreak,” the OECD said.

As a result, the OECD has put off its CLI data release until April 8.

Data for certain countries that were affected by Covid-19 early on, such as China, Japan and South Korea, do signal slowing economic growth momentum, the OECD said.

“However, the rapidity of the outbreak in other countries in recent weeks has meant that the impact has not yet been reflected in the CLI sub-components for these countries,” the OECD said.

For instance, data from Italy was collected before the scale of the Covid-19 outbreak became known.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.