Asian policymakers must be ready to respond “early and decisively” to overheating risks in their economies stemming from rapid credit growth and rising asset prices, the IMF said.
Growth is set to pick up gradually this year and inflation is expected to stay within central banks’ comfort zones, the Washington-based lender said in a report yesterday. Greater exchange-rate flexibility in the region would play a “useful role” in curbing overheating pressures and coping with speculative capital inflows.
Asian economic growth that the IMF estimates will be almost five times faster than advanced nations this year, and increasing investor appetite for risk have spurred capital inflows into the region. The Bank of Japan this month joined counterparts in the US and Europe in unleashing monetary stimulus, which may fuel further currency gains in developing markets, such as the Philippines, where policymakers have stepped up efforts to cool appreciation.
“Financial imbalances and rising asset prices, fueled by strong credit growth and easy financing conditions, are building in several Asian economies,” the IMF said. “Policymakers in the region face a delicate balancing act in the near term: guarding against the potential buildup of financial imbalances, while delivering appropriate support for growth.”
The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific echoes concerns in an April 15 World Bank report that emerging economies in the region should consider reining in monetary stimulus. Japan needs to have a credible strategy to lower debt, while China’s challenge is to unwind past credit stimulus and curb the growth of shadow banking, the IMF said.
Asia will lead a three-speed global recovery, with domestic demand supported by “strong” labor market conditions, “robust” consumer confidence and household disposable income, falling unemployment rates and rising real wages, the IMF said.
Economies may also benefit from China’s growth momentum and Japan’s stimulus measures, it said.
China’s economy will expand 8 percent this year and 8.2 percent next year, while India’s GDP will rise 5.7 percent this year and 6.2 percent next year, the IMF projected.
The IMF expects growth of 3 percent this year and 2.8 percent next year for Taiwan, lower than its forecasts of 3.9 percent and 3.6 percent respectively in its report in October last year.
South Korea’s economy is forecast to grow 3.9 percent both this year and next year, lower than previous forecasts of 4.5 percent and 4 percent respectively, the IMF said.
The IMF predicts the Philippines will expand 6.04 percent this year and 5.5 percent next year, raising its projections by 1.2 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points respectively from October last year.
Still, the threat of external risks, such as the eurozone crisis, remains substantial, and while capital inflows can provide an impetus, they can also be disruptive, the IMF said.
“In the event of a severe global slowdown, capital flow reversals and falling external demand would exert a powerful drag on Asia’s most open economies,” including lower investment and employment in export-dependent sectors and possibly lower remittances by overseas labor, it said.
Risks within the region include disruption to trade from natural disasters or geopolitical tensions, it said. An economic slowdown in China led by sharply lower investment, and a rise in sovereign risk in Japan in the absence of a credible medium-term fiscal and growth strategy also pose threats.
In Asia, some nations must address fiscal deficits, especially where the gap is larger than before the financial crisis, the IMF said. At the same time, most governments also need to increase public spending on education and health, while food and energy subsidies in countries such as China, Indonesia and Malaysia should be eliminated and replaced by programs such as cash transfers, it said.
“To sustain high rates of per capita income growth, the policy agenda will have to vary across a range of priorities, including economic rebalancing, strengthening infrastructure investment, reforms in goods and labor markets, and meeting the challenges from rapid demographic change,” the IMF said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last