A fragile global economic rebound is set to gather momentum next year but debt in leading industrialised nations is expected to soar to record levels, the OECD said yesterday.

Average quarterly growth in OECD members should pick up from 1.75 per cent at present to 2.5 per cent in the second half of next year and three per cent in the second half of 2012, the OECD said in its latest economic outlook.

“The global economic recovery remains fragile but is broadly on track,” the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report published ahead of a summit of Group of 20 nations in Seoul later this month.

But it warned that the economic crisis of the last two years had “pushed public deficits and debt to unsustainable levels.”

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said: “Simply stabilising debt relative to gross domestic product in most countries will require a historical consolidation effort of anywhere from six to nine per cent of GDP.”

He said: “But in fact even more is needed to bring debt back to sustainable levels.”

The study found that although growth in the industrialised world had slowed this year, reflecting a winding down in government stimulus measures, low interest rates and robust activity in emerging market countries means that “the present soft patch in ouput growth is not projected to persist for long.”