INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:12:00 12/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Growth in middle-income economies in East Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand is seen to “ease modestly” to the five to six percent range in 2009 East Asia’s growth as a whole would likely fall to 8.6 percent from 10.2 percent in 2007, the World Bank said in a report Wednesday. “East Asian economies will face testing times in 2008,” the World Bank said in its latest East Asian Outlook.
The World Bank said higher oil and food prices will erode incomes in the bulk of the East Asian region, the latter particularly hurting the poor. However, it also said that fast economic growth coupled with cyclical downturns is normal in East Asia and that it will not be affected too much by the global financial turmoil.
“High trend growth has been driven by fundamental factors such as robust productivity gains, ability to absorb knowledge from abroad, high savings, and growing education and skills. These fundamentals are unlikely to be displaced by the present financial turmoil and cyclical slowdown,” it said.
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