- HONG KONG: The International Monetary Fund has trimmed its economic growth forecasts for Asia because of financial turbulence in Europe and a possible slowdown in the US.
The IMF said Thursday that risks for Asia “are decidedly tilted to the downside” because of the negative outlooks for Europe and the US, which are the major markets for Asia’s exports.
The fund forecast that gross domestic product growth across Asia would average 6.3 percent in 2011, rising to 6.7 percent in 2012. That’s lower than the IMF’s April forecast of nearly 7 percent in both years.
The IMF said inflation is still high in a number of Asian countries. But consumer prices are expected to ease after peaking this year as food and energy prices “gradually moderate.”
