Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2017 Supplement: Cautious Optimism for Asia's Outlook
Abstract
Description
With export demand stronger than expected in the first quarter of 2017, the region’s GDP is forecast to expand somewhat faster than forecast in April in Asian Development Outlook 2017.
Developing Asia is now expected to grow by 5.9% in 2017, or 0.2 percentage points higher than the rate previously envisaged. The smaller upgrade in the 2018 growth forecast—5.7% in ADO 2017 to 5.8%—reflects a cautious view on the pace of the turnaround in external demand. Excluding the newly industrialized economies of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Singapore, Taipei,China, and Hong Kong, China, growth projections for the region are revised up to 6.4% for 2017 and to 6.3% for 2018. Projections are upgraded for Central and East Asia but unchanged for the other three subregions.
The combined growth forecast for the major industrial economies—the United States, the euro area, and Japan—is retained from ADO 2017. Although the growth projection for the US this year is now 0.2 percentage points lower in the wake of disappointing first quarter results, upward revisions for the euro area and Japan, supported by robust domestic demand, compensate to maintain the collective forecast.