Manila: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised its economic growth outlook for developing Asia down slightly to 7.0 percent this year and 5.3 percent next year, after renewed outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led to slower growth in the third quarter.
ADB’s latest estimates, presented in a regular supplement of the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021, compare with the banks September forecasts of 7.1 percent growth for 2021 and 5.4 percent for 2022. Prospects for this year have been revised slightly downward for all subregions except Central Asia.
“Developing Asia’s steady progress in dealing with COVID-19, through continued vaccination drives and more strategic application of containment measures, helped boost growth prospects in the early part of the year,” said ADB Acting Chief Economist Joseph Zveglich. “However, new outbreaks in the third quarter muted gross domestic product growth, and the advent of the Omicron virus variant is causing renewed uncertainty. Recovery efforts will have to take these developments into consideration”.
