ADB raises Asia growth forecast to 8.3%
Asia’s developing economies, the fastest-growing countries in the world, will expand much more than expected this year, but credit problems in the West may take a toll in 2008, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday.
The Manila-based multilateral agency said growth in Asia, excluding Japan, should average 8.3 per cent in 2007, up from a forecast of 7.6 per cent six months ago. The region grew 8.5 per cent last year.
The ADB forecast growth of 8.2 per cent in 2008, up from an earlier prediction of 7.7 per cent, but left open the possibility of downward revisions amid worries about the fallout from trouble in the US subprime mortgage sector.
