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Asia growth to pick up this year, says IMF

. PTI, New Delhi
Asian economies, led by India and China, are expected to see better growth this year but any escalation of European debt turmoil will impact them, the IMF said yesterday.
The multilateral agency noted that though Asia's growth is expected to "pick up this year after slowing in the last quarter of 2011", Asian policymakers face the challenging task of
adjusting policies to support stable, non-inflationary growth.
"An escalation of the crisis with a disorderly, large scale, and aggressive trimming of balance sheets could have a serious impact on Asia," the International Monetary Fund said in its Asia-Pacific Regional Economic Outlook report.
Asia is projected to see an economic growth of six per cent this year, almost the same level as in 2011.
IMF said emerging Asia would remain the fastest growing region in the world, led by China and India, expanding about 8.25 per cent and close to 7 per cent, respectively, this year.
Emphasising that economic rebalancing remains a policy priority for much of Asia, the IMF said the best way for the region to protect itself against external shocks is by strengthening domestic sources of growth.
On the impact of European crisis on Asia, the report noted that a sharp fall in exports to advanced economies and a reversal of foreign capital flows would severely hit the region.
Meanwhile, the IMF yesterday lowered India's growth projection to 6.9 per cent for 2012 which it earlier in January pegged Indian economic growth to expand 7 per cent for this year. "In India, the lowered growth outlook in 2012 owes much to a slowdown of investment which partly reflects structural factors," the multilateral agency said.
IMF called for renewed efforts to revive the "flagging" structural reform agenda.
Apart from some financial reforms and measures to broaden the use of public-private partnerships announced in the 2012-13 budget, the implementation of reforms related to infrastructure is likely to proceed slowly, it noted.
IMF's Asia-Pacific Regional Economic Outlook released today also pointed out that domestic factors too have played a role in India's growth slowdown over the second half of 2011.