Region: East Asia and Pacific
Country: Global / Non-Specific
Topic: Legal Framework
Keywords: Knowledge Lab, Legal Framework
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Document Summary:
The outlook for developing Asia supports optimism. Rather than the slight growth moderation forecast in Asian Development Outlook 2017 in April, this Update envisages a slight uptick this year. Growth in the region is set to pick up from 5.8% in 2016 to 5.9% this year and 5.8% in 2018. Excluding the high-income newly industrialized economies, the region is expected to expand by 6.4% in 2017 and 6.3% in 2018. An upturn in global trade is backed by strengthening recovery in the United States, the euro area, and Japan. Robust investments in developing Asia and higher growth in the People’s Republic of China contribute to the healthy outlook.
Document Details:
Growth prospects for developing Asia are looking up, bolstered by a revival in world trade and strong momentum in the People’s Republic of China. The region is forecast to expand by 5.9% in 2017 and 5.8% in 2018, a slight upgrade from Asian Development Outlook 2017. Excluding the newly industrialized economies, the region is expected to grow by 6.4% this year and 6.3% in 2018.
Rebounds in international food and fuel prices are gentler than expected, helping to contain consumer price pressures. Inflation is likely to dip to 2.4% in 2017, or 0.1 percentage points off the 2016 rate, and pick up to 2.9% in 2018.
Risks to the outlook have become more balanced, as the advanced economies have so far avoided sharp, unexpected changes to their macroeconomic policies. Further, the fuel price rise is providing fiscal relief to oil exporters but is measured enough not to destabilize oil importers.
Looking ahead, developing Asia must mobilize $1.7 trillion annually to meet its infrastructure needs. Public–private partnership can help fill the financing gap by allocating risk to the party best able to manage it. The success of the approach depends on governments identifying projects suitable for it, engaging qualified private partners, and instituting the right process.
Updated: June 10, 2022