The OECD has lowered its growth forecast for the global economy and expects the Eurozone to sink deeper into recession next year unless the region's leaders moderate their plans for deep government spending cuts.

Speaking at a news conference, the OECD general secretary José Ángel Gurría said:

"A hesitant and uneven recovery is projected for the OECD area over the next two years, yet again. The euro area will remain in or near recession well into 2013. Growth is expected to pick up in the United States and Japan, but only gradually. And a quicker recovery is expected in the emerging market economies."

"Challenges remain to tackle the euro area sovereign debt crisis, repair the banking system, foster growth and jobs through structural reforms. The mechanisms that have been created to manage the crisis including the ECB being allowed to operate in the secondary markets to bring down the yields on the debt of some countries, of course the fiscal union, the talk of the banking union and the discussions leading to that eventually will get there all are very positive."

"This is meant to be a massive wake-up call. A call to go structural, to go social -- not to neglect the victims of the crisis -- to go green, because this is an intergenerational responsibility and the decisions we take today are going to affect the next 30 or 40 years, and to go institutional -- many of our institutions after the crisis require revamping. And if we do not adopt these structural, social, green, institutional measures, we will not be able to avoid the mediocrity, the rather undesirable scenario that we see. We need bold, courageous decisions."