He International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised from 4.3 to 4.6 percent the economic growth forecast for the region of Pacific Asia this year due to the recovery of China once the restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic have been lifted.
The IMF forecast in its report published on Monday night is three tenths higher than that formulated last October by this body and eight tenths more than the 3.8 percent reached in 2022 by the region, which will contribute 70 percent this year. of growth world economy.
The main factor highlighted by the IMF for this recovery is the reopening of China, where increased consumption is driving growth in the region, despite weakening demand in the rest of the world, according to the report.
“Asia and the Pacific will be the most dynamic major regions in the world in 2023, predominantly driven by the optimistic forecast for China and India,” reads the analysis, which attributes the bulk of growth to domestic demand.
The IMF expects China to grow at 5.2 percent and India at 5.9 percent, although the forecasts for Asia as a whole are somewhat less rosy, with expected growth of 4.4 percent, two tenths less than expected six months ago.
Among the reasons given for this cooling of forecasts, the IMF includes persistent inflation in many countries, the drop in global demand and “stress in the financial systems from Europe and the USA”.
“Asia remains vulnerable to tight financial conditions and sudden and disorderly adjustments in the prices of goods,” the agency warns.