ADB sees softer economic outlook for Asia in 2022 on coronavirus resurgence

 In its latest Asian Development Outlook report on Wednesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised down its 2022 GDP growth forecasts for the South East Asian economies, underscoring the risks from the Chinese Omicron outbreaks.

Key takeaways

Full-year gross domestic product (GDP) forecast now seen at 4.9% vs. 5.1% previous.

Growth is expected to pick up to 5.2%  in 2023, as the recovery is gaining momentum "in most of the sub-region's economies as Covid-19 vaccination coverage increases and mobility restrictions are eased."

"While the baseline forecasts are relatively good, several downside risks cloud the horizon", such as sharper-than-expected rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve, which could shave 0.2 percentage point off developing Asia's growth in 2022 and 0.1 point in 2023, compared with the base case.”

‘ADB cuts its China 2022 GDP forecast to 5.0% from 5.3% previously.”

Excluding the advanced economies of Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, growth is expected to come in at 5.4% in 2022 and 5.5% in 2023.

• World Bank: China's economy projected to expand by 5.0% in 2022