ADB: East Asia economies recovering at faster pace
" Why should the PHILIPPINES be the ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK? " Other ASEAN countries can handle the ADB better if NEW DELHI , INDIA take over the leadership of this bank it will be to the benefit of ASIAN countries...
(philstar.com) Updated December 15, 2009 02:06 PM
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – East Asia's emerging economies are rebounding from the global recession faster than anticipated, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday, as it raised growth forecasts for the region.
The Manila-based lender said it expects growth of 4.2 percent this year and 6.8 percent in 2010. That's up from the bank's earlier forecasts of 3.6 percent and 6.5 percent. Emerging East Asia comprises 10 Southeast Asian countries plus China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
The recovery has been aided by government stimulus spending and improving exports though the pace of the rebound varies widely, the ADB said. Less open economies in Southeast Asia were partly insulated from the global crisis but are not expected to recover strongly either, it said.
China, buoyed by massive stimulus spending and easy credit, recorded by far the strongest recovery, growing 8.9 percent in the third quarter. The ADB maintained its growth forecast for China at 8.2 percent this year and 8.9 percent in 2010.
Middle-income Southeast Asian economies — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam — expanded 1.2 percent in the third quarter. The combined gross domestic product of newly industrialized nations Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan contracted slightly by 0.1 percent — a turnaround from the 6.3 percent contraction in the first quarter of 2009.