Paris  - It will take some time to recover from the current economic slowdown, and many industrial nations will eventually plunge into recession, chief OECD economist Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel said in an interview made public on Friday.

"Our base scenario is built on the premise that the current freeze in short-term financial markets will be resolved in a relatively short time span, but that bank deleveraging and recapitalisation, as well as re-building of trust in the markets, will take much more time," Schmidt-Hebbel said.

"At the same time demand for loans is shrinking anyway as slumps in asset prices and a general feeling of uncertainty cause households and firms to rein in their spending plans."

As a result, the OECD expects "a significant weakening in the world economy, with many OECD economies slipping into recession sooner or later."

If the freeze in financial markets and lending takes longer to thaw than foreseen, it would have serious effects on spending and employment and "lead to a deeper and more persistent recession," Schmidt-Hebbel said.

However, he said that while the current financial crisis was the worst in decades, "a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression is highly unlikely, thanks in large part to the massive (government) rescue plans now in place." (dpa)