BUSINESS-ECONOMY | Asia to end 2023 on brighter note as China’s economy recovers: ADB

Employees work on a car assembly line at a Beijing Automotive factory in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province, on Jan. 14, 2023. (AFP/STR)

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Developing Asia will likely end the year on a brighter note, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday, with growth in the region expected to be stronger than previously thought due mainly to a recovery in China’s economy.

The ADB raised its 2023 growth forecast for developing Asia to 4.9 percent from 4.7 percent projected in September, but kept its growth outlook for the region at 4.8 percent next year.

The ADB also revised upwards its growth projection for China to 5.2 percent from 4.9 percent previously, but maintained its growth forecast for the world’s second-largest economy at 4.5 percent next year.

China’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected clip of 4.9 percent in the third quarter, while consumption and industrial activity in September also surprised on the upside, supported by a flurry of policy measures that bolstered a tentative recovery.

 

The ADB said robust domestic demand, stronger remittances, recovering tourism were underpinning economic activity in the region, which consists of 46 economies in the Asia-Pacific and excludes Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Outlook for the sub-regions was mixed, with East Asia seen growing faster at 4.7 percent this year versus the ADB’s 4.4 percent forecast in September, while Southeast Asia was projected to grow at 4.3 percent, slower than the previous forecast of 4.6 percent.

South Asia was likewise expected to post stronger growth of 5.7 percent this year from 5.4 percent previously, with India’s economy seen expanding at a faster clip of 6.7 percent this year. Inflation in developing Asia was forecast to ease to 3.5 percent this year, down slightly from ADB’s earlier expectation, before rising slightly to 3.6 percent in 2024.

Reuters Manila, Philippines
●   Wed, December 13, 2023