KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has slightly raised its economic growth forecast for developing Asia and the Pacific this year to 5.0 per cent from a previous projection of 4.9 per cent.
The bank said this is due to the rising regional exports, complementing resilient domestic demand.
It maintained the growth outlook for next year at 4.9 per cent.
Its chief economist Albert Park said most of Asia and the Pacific is seeing faster economic growth compared with the second half of last year.
"The region's fundamentals remain strong, but policy makers still need to pay attention to a number of risks that could affect the outlook, from uncertainty related to election outcomes in major economies to interest rate decisions and geopolitical tensions," said Park.
On inflation, ADB said according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO), inflation is forecast to slow to 2.9 per cent this year amid easing global food prices and the lingering effects of higher interest rates.
The report said growth in developing Asia accelerated in the first quarter of 2024 on resilient domestic demand and strong export growth, particularly in electronics.
"Headline inflation in developing Asia is now forecast to ease further from 3.3 per cent last year to 2.9 per cent this year, stabilizing at 3.0 per cent in 2025," said the report.
While inflation is moderating toward pre-pandemic levels in the region as a whole, ADB said price pressures remain elevated in some economies.
However, food inflation is still high in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, in part due to adverse weather and food export restrictions in some economies, it added.Ends