ASEAN economies to grow 7.9% in 1995
ASEAN economies to grow 7.9% in 1995
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Growth in the ASEAN region is expected to accelerate by 7.9 percent this year, led by Malaysia and Singapore, amid improvements in the global economy and capital inflows, Malaysia's central bank said.
Driven by robust growth in exports and domestic demand, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a group grew more rapidly by 7.6 percent last year from 7.0 percent in 1993, the central Bank Negara's 1994 annual report released late Wednesday showed.
Singapore, sustaining its 1993's performance at 10.1 percent last year led growth in the region, followed by Malaysia with 8.7 percent, Thailand 8.5 percent, Indonesia 6.9 percent (recently Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics announced that Indonesia recorded an economic growth rate of 7.34 percent last year) and the Philippines 4.3 percent.
Singapore and Malaysia, the region's economic powerhouses, are expected to record the highest growth of 8.9 percent each this year, trailed by Thailand with a projected rate of 8.5 percent, Indonesia 7.6 percent and Philippines six percent.
Data for oil-rich Brunei, the sixth member in the grouping, is not included.
The region's buoyant economic expansion, however, was shadowed by an increase in price pressures.
Inflation, however, was expected to moderate to 6.1 percent this year, after rising to 6.8 percent last year from 6.2 percent in 1993.
The region's combined current account deficit also improved to US$7.4 billion last year from $9.7 billion in 1993.
In terms of trade, ASEAN's aggregate exports surged by 21 percent last year from 14 percent the year before, due to higher demand from industrial economies, especially the United States, and greater intra-regional businesses.
By individual countries, Singapore recorded a significantly larger current account surplus last year of $12 billion from $5.2 billion in 1993.
The external accounts of the other ASEAN nations, including Malaysia, remained in deficit, which in most cases, had widened except in the Philippines where there was a slight improvement.
Malaysia's current account deficit almost doubled to 11.6 billion ringgit ($4.64 billion) last year from 6.3 billion ringgit in 1993.
"Generally, economic policies in the region will continue to be directed at maintaining growth with price stability, with some having specific measures to prevent overheating and manage excess liquidity," a central bank official said.
Malaysia's Bank Negara governor Ahmad Mohd. Don said on Wednesday that inflow of speculative funds would be curbed if they posed a threat to stability.