The economies of central Europe face difficult times in coming years owing to a slowdown in the pace of reforms and a labour shortage, a senior OECD official said on Monday

The economies of central Europe face difficult times in coming years owing to a slowdown in the pace of reforms and a labour shortage, a senior OECD official said on Monday. Speaking at a meeting here of central European chief financial officers, OECD economic adviser Patrick Lenain said that although the region's growth rates had risen to about 4.0 percent and the short-term outlook for the region was good, the longer-term outlook was less positive. "Even rising oil prices and the falling dollar should not prevent these countries growing by around 4.0 percent in 2004 and 2005. But catching up in the medium-term will not happen automatically. I hope central Europe will have a great future but this is not for certain and is not guaranteed," he said. "The prospect of joining the EU was an important driver for reform and levelling the playing field in the region. But the pace of reform has since slowed down and we need another carrot for dynamic growth," he added. A number of barriers and obstacles stood in the way of central Europe catching up with western Europe living standards, he said. A critical problem faced by the central Europe countries of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia was their ageing populations, Lenain warned.