East Asia and Pacific Sustaining Growth, Restraining Inflation, but Facing Risks Ahead
WASHINGTON, September 26, 2022 – Growth in most of developing East Asia and the Pacific rebounded in 2022 from the effects of COVID-19, while China has lost momentum because of continued measures to contain the virus, a World Bank report said on Monday.
Looking ahead, economic performance across the region could be compromised by slowing global demand, rising debt, and a reliance on short-term economic fixes to cushion against food and fuel price increases.
Growth in developing East Asia and the Pacific outside of China is forecast to accelerate to 5.3% in 2022 from 2.6% in 2021, according to the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific October 2022 Economic Update. China, which previously led recovery in the region, is projected to grow by 2.8% in 2022, a sharp deceleration from 8.1% in 2021. For the region as a whole, growth is projected to slow to 3.2% this year from 7.2% in 2021, before accelerating to 4.6% next year, the report says. Read more>>
African Governments Urgently Need to Restore Macro-Economic Stability and Protect the Poor in a Context of Slow Growth, High Inflation
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2022 — Global headwinds are slowing Africa’s economic growth as countries continue to contend with rising inflation, hindering progress on poverty reduction. The risk of stagflation comes at a time when high interest rates and debt are forcing African governments to make difficult choices as they try to protect people’s jobs, purchasing power and development gains.
According to the World Bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse, a biannual analysis of the near-term regional macroeconomic outlook, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is set to decelerate from 4.1% in 2021 to 3.3% in 2022, a downward revision of 0.3 percentage points since April’s Pulse forecast, mainly as a result of a slowdown in global growth, including flagging demand from China for commodities produced in Africa. Read more>>
Russian Invasion of Ukraine Impedes Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery in Emerging Europe and Central Asia
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2022 – The ongoing war in Ukraine has dimmed prospects of a post-pandemic economic recovery for emerging and developing economies in the Europe and Central Asia region, says the World Bank’s Economic Update for the region, released today.
Economic activity will remain deeply depressed through next year, with minimal growth of 0.3% expected in 2023, as energy price shocks continue to impact the region. So far, however, the region has weathered the storm of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine better than previously forecast. Regional output is now expected to contract by 0.2% this year, reflecting above expectation growth in some of the region’s largest. Read more>>
Social and Infrastructure Investments Can Drive Growth and Shared Prosperity in Latin America and the Caribbean
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2022 – Latin America and the Caribbean economies have recovered to their pre-pandemic levels and the region has regained some sense of normalcy, but economies need to be reignited in order to avoid a new low-growth cycle. Social and infrastructure investments can be key drivers of growth and shared prosperity, according to a new World Bank report, "New Approaches to Closing the Fiscal Gap."
The report estimates regional GDP will grow by 3.0 percent in 2022, a higher than previously expected rate due to rising commodities prices. Read more>>
MENA Economies Grow by 5.5% But Benefits are Uneven
Energy, food inflation, higher global interest rates add stress for oil importers
WASHINGTON, October 5, 2022—The economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 5.5% this year —the fastest rate since 2016—followed by a slowing of growth to 3.5% in 2023. Yet this growth is uneven across the region, as countries, still struggling to overcome the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, face jolting new shocks from higher oil and food prices brought on by the war in Ukraine, rising global interest rates, and slowdowns in the United States, China, and the Euro area.
The World Bank’s latest economic update, titled "A New State of Mind: Greater Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa," finds that the region’s oil exporting countries are benefitting from high hydrocarbon prices, but oil importing nations confront different circumstances. Read more>>
Unprecedented Shocks Rattle South Asia, Exacerbating Challenges and Dampening Growth
WASHINGTON, October 6, 2022—Beset with Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, Pakistan’s catastrophic floods, a global slowdown, and impacts of the war in Ukraine, South Asia faces an unprecedented combination of shocks on top of the lingering scars of the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth in the region is dampening, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year update, underscoring the need for countries to build resilience.
Released today, the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping with Shocks: Migration and the Road to Resilience, projects regional growth to average 5.8 percent this year - a downward revision of 1 percentage point from the forecast made in June. This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump. Read more>>
