The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a report has said that China’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and strong demand in India will drive strong economic growth in Asia this year. Asia’s developing economies are on course for faster growth and moderating inflation this year and next, even as advanced economies are contributing to a darker global outlook, the report issued on April 4 added.
The ADB projected that China’s economy will grow 5 percent this year and 4.5 percent next year — better from last year’s 3 per cent growth, but slower than its long-term average. India’s economy is expected to grow at a slower pace of 6.4 percent this year compared to a 9.1 percent annual pace of expansion in 2021, as it rebounded from the worst of the pandemic, and 6.8 percent in 2022. However, it’s one of the fastest expansions for a major regional economy.
The ADB added that growing imports of Russian crude oil, especially by China and India, will likely cushion the impact of rising prices — such as exports to China, India and Turkey more than doubled last year.
The group’s 46 member nations across the continent are set to grow at 4.8 percent in 2023 and 2024, faster than the 4.2 percent last year, the ADB said in an update to its regional forecasts. Inflation should moderate to 4.2 percent this year in a slight easing from 4.4 percent in 2022.
