Euro zone growth in 2010 could be closer to zero after a volatile second quarter threatens to dash previous estimates of 1 percent, U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini said on Sunday.

The currency bloc does not face a double-dip recession, however, despite deteriorating financial-market confidence over economic growth in an age of fiscal austerity, Roubini told a conference in Aix-en-Provence.

Given the shocks of the last few month s... by year-end, euro zone growth could be closer to zero percent, said Roubini, who has been nicknamed Doctor Doom for his pessimistic forecasts.

He said his previous estimate of 1 percent was similar to forecasts by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The past three months' stock-market correction, rising credit spreads and a jittery inter-bank lending market suggested there were serious concerns over economic growth at a global level, said Roubini.

Growth in the U.S. economy could slow in the second half of this year to 1.5 percent from 3 percent in the first, he said.

For the global economy, by year-end, the picture is not a very nice one, said Roubini.

(Reporting by Lionel Laurent, editing by Will Waterman)

International Monetary Fund