LJUBLJANA, March 19 (Reuters) - The euro zone economy will contract by 4.1 percent this year according to the latest OECD forecast, a government minister of euro zone member Slovenia said on Thursday.
"The latest data of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show the expected fall of economic growth in euro zone in 2009 is 4.1 percent," Minister of European Affairs and Development Mitja Gaspari told a news conference.
He said the OECD figures show Germany's economy will contract by 5.1 percent and Italy's by 4.2 percent.
These figures have come ahead of official publication of updated forecast of the OECD on March 31.
The previous official OECD forecast, issued on November 25, predicted euro zone 2009 GDP down 0.6 percent, Germany down 0.8 percent and Italy down 1 percent. (Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by Toby Chopra)