Rising oil prices pose the most "immediate risk" to Asian economies, said John Dowling, a consultant at the bank, by driving up inflation rates and narrowing current account surpluses in oil-importing nations.
"Prices have spiked up because of fear of what will happen in the Middle East," he said, and not because of shortages.
A decline in US demand for Asian goods will also cut economic growth in the region, the bank said.
Although the US is growing again after last year's recession, lifting demand for Asian goods, its widening current account deficit raises the threat of a "sharp adjustment," which would "tend to reduce the US propensity to import," the bank said.
Any move by the US to curb its current account deficit, which measures the difference in the value of goods and services entering and leaving the country, may limit the Asian recovery, the bank said.
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