Photo : Eric Gaillard

PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Lars Olofsson, CEO of Carrefour (CARR.PA), the world's second-biggest retailer, does not see significant signs of improvement in the world economy, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Monday 12 October.

"I don't see any significant signs of an immediate change. The only part of the world where they are still dancing the samba is Latin America," Olofsson, who took over the top spot at Carrefour in January, told the paper.

Olofsson defended the hypermarket model -- whereby retailers sell everything from food to bikes and clothes under one roof -- saying that despite the challenge presented by speciality stores, "in France we have about one million people per day flowing through our hypermarkets. People still have an interest in them."

Olofsson said price promotions were paying off and, in Western Europe, consumers were buying more Carrefour-branded goods.

He added that Carrefour's market share had increased in the first six months of the year, the first time in two and a half years the group had shown a market share gain over a six-month period.

(Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; editing by John Stonestreet)