Book Description

The World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update is a comprehensive, twice-yearly review of the region's economies prepared by the East Asia and Pacific region of the World Bank. In this edition, the report notes that in China, growth slowed to 7.8 percent in 2012 due to rebalancing efforts. Risks emanating from the Eurozone and the U.S. have declined since the middle of last year. While still fragile, there are signs of a turnaround in real activity in high income economies, thus external demand for the East Asia and Pacific region's exports will stabilize this year. Movements in high-income country currencies, such as the yen, are likely to affect trade and investment flows in the region in the short term, but a return to sustained growth in Japan would benefit the region as a whole. An emerging issue is the risk of overheating in some of the larger economies. Policymakers need to continue to be vigilant to react to shocks in the world economy, but be prepared to withdraw stimulus as the world economy recovers. For countries that show some signs of inflationary pressures, it would be a good time to rebuild policy buffers.