The world economy is likely to shrink in 2009 despite growth in Asian powerhouses China and India, the head of the OECD Angel Gurria said on Friday, warning of a first global contraction in 60 years.

"Now we are probably seeing a world which will go negative because even the positive growth of India and China is not going to be enough to offset the negative growth in (developed countries)," he told reporters.

He was replying to a question about his expectations for growth in 2009.

Gurria's remark came after the International Monetary Fund said it also believed the global economy could contract in 2009.

"The IMF expects global growth to slow below zero this year, the worst performance in most of our lifetimes," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in Tanzania earlier this month.

Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, also said in Friday's briefing that growth in China's economy this year was likely to reach six to seven percent.

The World Bank earlier this week published a new forecast for the Chinese economy, reducing its growth prediction for 2009 to 6.5 percent from 7.5 percent.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development groups 30 industrialised, democratic nations across the world and serves as a policy adviser and a forum for debate about economic and political issues.