Asian Development Outlook 2014

The Asian Development Outlook 2014 projects that developing Asia's growth will increase from 6.1% in 2013 to 6.2% in 2014 and 6.4% in 2015. Moderating growth in the People's Republic of China as its economy adjusts to more balanced growth will offset to some extent the stronger demand expected from the industrial countries as their economies recover. Risks to the outlook have eased and are manageable. The monetary policy shift in the United States may invite some volatility ahead in financial markets, albeit mitigated by accommodative monetary policy in Japan and the euro area. The regional growth outlook depends on continued recovery in the major industrial economies and on the People's Republic of China managing to contain internal credit growth smoothly. Widening income gaps in developing Asia strengthens the case for greater use of fiscal policy to foster equality of opportunity. While the region has benefited from fiscal prudence in the past, demographic and environmental challenges are expected to compete for public resources in the coming years. To boost public spending on equity-enhancing programs such as education and health without undermining fiscal sustainability, the authorities will need to explore a wide range of options for mobilizing revenue and to build equity objectives into their fiscal plans.

Developing Asia is maintaining steady growth momentum. Despite recovery in the major industrialized economies falling short of expectations, the region is on track to meet its favorable forecasts as policy stabilizes investment in the People’s Republic of China and signs emerge of a long-awaited turnaround in India. Inflation is held in check across most regional economies by benign international commodity prices, subdued domestic demand, and prudent policy. Even if global liquidity tightens earlier in 2015 than anticipated, its effect on developing Asia should be modest. Asian Development Outlook 2014 Update reviews global value chains and how these cross-border production networks have enhanced income and employment in East and Southeast Asia. It considers what policy makers can do to encourage their improvement and spread to other parts of Asia and the Pacific.

The Asian Development Outlook is ADB's main economic forecasting product. It is published each April with an Update published in September and brief Supplements published in July and December.

This book contains a medium-term (five-year) economic outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India.

The Asian Development Outlook 2015 projects that developing Asia will grow at a steady 6.3% in 2015 and 2016, supported by a strengthening recovery in the major industrial economies and soft global commodity prices. The drop in international oil prices is taking pressure off of consumer prices. Inflation will slow from 3.1% in 2014 to 2.6% in 2015. As low oil prices are supporting growth in developing Asia, a sudden sharp reversal could undermine the outlook and require policy response. Similarly, while capital inflows to the region have been beneficial for growth, policy makers must carefully manage credit expansion to ensure that it does not lead to excessive leverage and asset price bubbles. Developing Asia needs a deep, robust financial sector to sustain growth. Policy makers will be challenged to ensure that financial sector development is inclusive, providing broad access to households and firms. Financial stability must also be maintained to enhance growth and equity.

Growth in developing Asia is holding up against external headwinds. Robust domestic demand supported the region's large economies, and oil prices above expectations boosted prospects for many oil and gas exporters. Consumer prices are picking up with rising global fuel and food prices, but moderate inflation in several Asian economies has kept the regional average in check. Downside risks to the outlook are intensifying. If tightened more than investors expect, US monetary policy could accelerate capital outflow from Asian economies and put further depreciation pressure on regional currencies. Any escalation of the trade conflict could disrupt cross-border production links. Most economies remain robust, but policy makers must be ready to respond. In the years since the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998, sound domestic macroeconomic fundamentals and buoyant external conditions have supported developing Asia's rise to become an engine of the global economy. However, the changing global landscape poses new challenges to the maintenance of macroeconomic stability. This Update explores the key pockets of vulnerability and the policy options available to manage them. To fortify the region against heightened uncertainty, policy makers may need to deploy the full range of policy tools, while forging and safeguarding the sound fundamentals that support economic, social, and political stability.

The annual Asian Development Outlook analyzes economic performance in the past year and offers forecasts for the next 2 years for the 45 economies in Asia and the Pacific that make up developing Asia. Global headwinds notwithstanding, developing Asia will continue to contribute 60% of world growth. Modest recovery in Southeast Asia and sustained growth in India will partly offset continued moderation in the People's Republic of China and associated spillover into neighboring economies. Risks to the growth outlook tilt to the downside: future US interest rate hikes that may intensify global financial volatility, a sharper-than-forecast growth slowdown in the People's Republic of China that would hurt regional exports and growth, emerging producer price deflation that may undermine growth in some economies, tepid prices for oil and other commodities, and El Niño. This edition highlights the need to invigorate developing Asia's potential growth, whose decline since its 2007 peak explains much of the region's growth slowdown since the global financial crisis. To ensure a healthy future for potential growth, Asia must employ the full range of policy responses to augment labor supply, improve labor productivity, enhance institutional quality, and maintain macroeconomic stability.