Publication: World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update 2012, Volume 1 : Capturing New Sources of Growth
Loading...
Date
2012-05
ISSN
2079-5874
Published
2012-05
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Growth in developing East Asia and the Pacific remained strong in 2011, although it slowed from its post-crisis peaks. Strong domestic demand offset weaker external demand from the United States and Western Europe. Looking ahead, the external environment is likely to remain weak. The best prospects for the region to maintain high rates of growth, job creation, and poverty reduction are through rebalancing towards domestic demand and investing in productivity increases and further international integration. The region remains vulnerable to the continued uncertainty in Europe through trade and financial linkages. Although last December's fiscal pact and liquidity support from the European Central Bank helped stabilize financial markets, recent political events and market developments point to continued challenges. Renewed market volatility and a further slowdown in European economies cannot be ruled out. The European Union (EU), along with the US and Japan, accounts for over 40 percent of the region's direct export shipments and an estimated 60 percent if intraregional trade linked to production networks is taken into account. A serious disruption in the EU would also have knock-on effects on East Asia's exports and growth by lowering growth in other regions, particularly Eastern Europe. Moreover, European banks provide a third of trade and project finance in Asia. Policies to support the movement of labor among countries can contribute to higher productivity. Migration in developing East Asia has helped fill labor shortages in host countries and remittance flows have contributed to poverty reduction and macroeconomic stability in home countries. Yet, as in other parts of the world, existing bilateral and regional migration policies do not always allow migrants to move efficiently to where returns are highest or allow firms to obtain the workers they need, and these policies may contain incentives for undocumented migration. Improved regional migration policies could enhance the gains from regional economic integration and allow those countries facing a negative demographic drag on economic growth in the next generation to obtain much-needed labor inputs.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update 2012, Volume 1 : Capturing New Sources of Growth. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14687 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Indonesia Economic Quarterly, December 2013 : Slower Growth, High Risks(Washington, DC, 2013-12)The Indonesia Economic Quarterly (IEQ) has two main aims. First, it reports on the key developments over the past three months in Indonesia's economy, and places these in a longer-term and global context. Based on these developments, and on policy changes over the period, the IEQ regularly updates the outlook for Indonesia's economy and social welfare. Second, the IEQ provides a more in-depth examination of selected economic and policy issues, and analysis of Indonesia's medium-term development challenges. This document summarizes the findings of the IEQ for the last quarter of 2013. The final quarter has seen the continuing adjustment of the Indonesian economy to more subdued commodity prices and tighter external financing conditions, and to the related pressures on external balances. Policies have responded, particularly through tighter monetary conditions, the currency has depreciated substantially in real terms, and investment spending and output growth have weakened. These developments are broadly supportive of continued macroeconomic stability, including by helping to lower the current account deficit, although their impact continues to play out, adding additional uncertainty to the path of the domestic economy. At the same time, the international environment is also shifting, with global growth expected to improve, bringing potential policy changes, notably in US monetary policy, which could add to the pressures on Indonesia's external financing position. In light of the slower pace of growth, and the risks facing the economy, there is a strong need for Indonesia to augment the recent macro focus on tighter monetary policy, exchange rate adjustment and import compression, with deeper reforms to lift export performance and support investment inflows.Publication Taking Stock, December 2010(World Bank, Hanoi, 2010-12)In the post-global economic crisis environment, Vietnam's economy continues to grow at a reasonably rapid and stable rate. While the speed of global economic recovery has been uneven across the world, Asia as a region has done particularly well. And within Asia, Vietnam's growth performance continues to be impressive. As shown in left panel of, Vietnam was one of the fastest growing economies in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region prior to the global economic crisis and has remained so in the post-crisis period as well1. After registering a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.3 percent in 2009, Vietnam's economy is expected to grow between 6.5-6.7 percent in 2010. Vietnam, like China, stands out not only for achieving a higher average growth rate but also a more stable growth path. This however has meant that the speed with which the Vietnam's economy is bouncing back from the lows of 2009 appears to be less impressive than countries that experienced negative growth last year. This edition of 'Taking Stock' a semi-annual publication from the World Bank attempts to understand the recent macroeconomic changes in Vietnam. It documents changes to the macroeconomic outcomes and policies with a view to inform policy discussions in the country. The analysis is mostly retrospective in nature, though discussions on prospective challenges and outlook are also briefly mentioned. Developments in the global economy in general and in the EAP region in particular are juxtaposed against Vietnam's own economic outcomes and policies to provide a more complete and nuanced picture of the issues.Publication Taking Stock, June 2010(World Bank, Hanoi, 2010-06)Vietnam has navigated the global crisis better than many other countries. GDP grew by 5.3 percent in 2009, accelerating to 6.9 percent in the last quarter of the year. At 5.8 percent, the figure for the first quarter of 2010 was less impressive, but claims that growth has slowed down are most probably unwarranted. Exports declined in 2009, for the first time since the beginning of economic reforms, but their decline was smaller than in other countries of the region. By now export growth is converging back to the 30 percent annual growth rate observed before the crisis. Inflation, which had reached 19.9 percent in 2008, was down to 6.5 percent in 2009. While there were some worrying signs of inflation acceleration in late 2009 and early 2010, by now the monthly increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is again moderate. And as in previous years, there were no banking crises despite the continuation of macroeconomic turbulence. More generally, lack of clarity by markets forces the government to overshoot in its policy reactions. Because markets are not sure to understand what the government is up to, they need to see very strong action in order to be convinced that the right course of action has been taken. As a result, Vietnam has had to go through dramatic shifts in the policy stance as circumstances changed. The stabilization policies of 2008 effectively 'killed' the real estate bubble and brought inflation rates to zero in just a few months, but such speed took a toll on economic activity. The stimulus policies of 2009 were equally strong and determined, but they ended up putting too much pressure on international reserves. With more information disclosure and better communication, policy shifts could perhaps be less extreme. Combined with stronger macroeconomic management, it should be possible for Vietnam to gradually free itself from the 'stop-and-go' cycle that has characterized macroeconomic policies over the last three years.Publication Indonesia Economic Quarterly, March 2014 : Investment in Flux(Washington, DC, 2014-03)Indonesia's economy continues to adjust to weaker terms of trade and tighter external financing conditions, with the composition of growth tilting more towards net exports, and economic growth slowing moderately. While this shift is positive for macroeconomic stability, it has to date been based primarily on tighter monetary policy and the depreciation of the Rupiah in 2013, the effects of which are continuing to play out. To further reduce Indonesia's vulnerability to external shocks, to minimize the risks of a more marked cyclical slowdown in growth, and to convert the near-term macro adjustment into strong, sustained growth over the longer term, further progress on long-standing policy priorities is warranted. Progress in three key areas can support both near-term macro stability and Indonesia's long-term economic prospects. First, there is a need to support domestic and foreign investor confidence. Recent policy and regulatory developments, including the partial ban on mineral exports, have increased uncertainty, may weigh on investment across the economy, and compound the usual difficulty of predicting policy ahead of elections. Given rising fiscal pressures from slower revenue growth and higher fuel subsidy costs, the second priority is to broaden the revenue base and improve the quality of spending, notably by reducing energy subsidy expenditure. These measures would also increase available fiscal space for more equitable, pro-growth spending. Third, credible progress is needed on addressing structural impediments to stronger and more inclusive growth, namely infrastructure and worker skills gaps, and factor and product market constraints. The policy environment is naturally constrained ahead of legislative elections in April and the presidential election in July. However, in light of ongoing economic risks and Indonesia's ambitious development agenda, laying the groundwork for future reforms, minimizing policy uncertainty, and making continued reform progress in some areas, should remain a priority.Publication World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, April 2013 : A Fine Balance(Washington, DC, 2013-04-25)The developing economies of the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region grew by 7.5 percent in 2012, lower than the 8.3 percent growth recorded in 2011, but still higher than that of any other region. Within the region, available data in the first quarter of the year indicate that external weakness may be abating, while domestic demand remains resilient. The expectation of some stabilization in external demand, coupled with still resilient domestic activity, may be showing in the industrial production and purchasing manager's index numbers, which are generally positive. The growth forecasts for EAP for 2013 and 2014 remain roughly similar to those of December last year. Both the global and regional outlooks are subject to several risks, most of which are by now familiar. Though the developing economies of East Asia are generally well-prepared to absorb external shocks, an emerging concern is the risk of over-heating in some of the larger economies in the region. Policy makers in developing EAP should strive to strike the right balance between managing the near-term risks, and sustaining and increasing inclusive growth in the medium-term by enhancing the underlying productive capacity-human and physical-of these economies.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
No results found.