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.