Asia's economy may ease

Asia's economy may ease

TOKYO (AFP): Asia's economic growth is forecast to ease from an estimated 8.3 percent last year to 7.5 percent this year and seven percent next year as China's expansion slows, Japan's Tokai Bank Ltd. said yesterday.

The Nagoya-based bank said growth in China's gross domestic product (GDP) was projected to drop from an estimated 13.4 percent in calendar 1993 to 10 percent in 1994 and eight percent in 1995.

But GDP growth in Asia's four newly-industrialized economies -- South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore -- is forecast to climb from 5.9 percent last year to 6.3 percent this year and 6.4 percent next year, the bank said.

At the same time, growth in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines -- the four main economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- is likely to climb from 6.4 percent to 6.7 percent to seven percent.