ADB forecasts growth in Asia will counter China’s slowdown

Rises in external demand and commodity prices will help push growth higher in many Asian economies this year even as China continues to slow down, according to one of the main regular forecasts.

The region’s less industrialised economies will halt several years of slowdown and match last year’s average expansion of 6.3 per cent, said the Asian Development’s Bank’s annual outlook, writes Michael Peel in Bangkok.

The mixed picture published Thursday shows growth picking up in two-thirds of Asian countries to counter a slide in mainland China’s advance from 6.7 per cent in 2016 to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent next.

“Developing Asia continues to drive the global economy even as the region adjusts to a more consumption-driven economy in the People’s Republic of China and looming global risks,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB’s chief economist. “While uncertain policy changes in advanced economies do pose a risk to the outlook, we feel that most economies are well positioned to weather potential short-term shocks.”