Mumbai, May 7 (IANS) Growth in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to gain momentum over the course of 2012 and is projected at 6 percent during the year – barring downsides in the global economy. It will rise to about 6.5 percent in 2013, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday.
The IMF’s 2012 Asia Economic Outlook was released by Anoop Singh, director of IMF’s Asia-Pacific department, in association with Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.
A seminar on the subject was chaired by Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn and Ambassador Neelam Deo, the director of Gateway House.
Stronger economic and policy fundamentals have helped buffer the region’seconomies against the global financial crisis, by limiting adverse financial market spill-overs and improving the impact of de-leveraging by European banks, the report said.
But a sharp fall in exports to advanced economies and a reversal of foreign capital flows would have a severe impact on the region, it added.
Speaking on the Indian context, Singh said that in India, the GDP is projected at 6.9 percent in 2012.
“In India, GDP growth is projected to moderate to 6.9 percent in 2012 (from 7.1 percent in 2011), picking up slightly to 7.3 percent in 2013. The lowered growth outlook in 2012 is due primarily to the ongoing slowdown in investment. The latter reflects a combination of global, cyclical, and structural factors,” he said.
Speaking about the report, Deo said that a bit more focus on the Indian economy, its weaknesses and remedial steps, would have been welcome.
“It is significant that this report is being released in the commercial and financial hub of India. Perhaps, a bit more focus on the Indian economy, its weaknesses and what needs to be done, would have been welcome. That would have also helped in understanding the Asian growth trajectory better, which at present is overwhelmed by China,” Deo said.
Gateway House is a foreign policy think tank in Mumbai, established to engage India’s leading corporations and individuals in debate and scholarship on India’s foreign policy and the nation’s role in global affairs.
