East Asia and Pacific Update, November 2009

The World Bank

Description

The 'East Asia and Pacific Update' is the World Bank's comprehensive semiannual review of developing economies in the region. This November 2009 issue discusses East Asia's role as the driving force behind the global economic rebound.
The region's economy has rebounded from the financial crisis and global recesesion that began in late 2008, but has it reached recovery stage? Why has the East Asia and Pacific region fared better than other developing regions? Can the region continue to grow as fast as it did before the crisis if demand from the developed world remains weak? Take China out of the equation and how is the rest of the region really doing? These are some of the questions addressed in this report.
Presenting unique perspectives along with the latest data on the region, the East Asia Update is a valued resource for policymakers, researchers, businesspersons, students, and anyone else with a serious interest in this dynamic region.

Sujets

• East Asia
• Rebound
• Recovery
• Rebalancing (investment)
• Fiscal policy
• Export-led growth
• China
• World Bank
• Poverty reduction

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 07 décembre 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 100
• EAN13: 9780821382677
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC UPDATE

NOVEMBER 2009

transforming the rebound
into recovery

A WORLD BANK ECONOMIC UPDATE FOR THE EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION

transforming the rebound

into recovery

EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC UPDATE

NOVEMBER 2009

transforming the rebound

into recovery

A WORLD BANK ECONOMIC UPDATE FOR THE EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION

©2010 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
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Washington DC 20433
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Internet: www.worldbank.org
E-mail: [e-mail]

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1 2 3 4 12 11 10 9

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fi
ndings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily re
fl
ect the views of the Executive Directors
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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Summary
Abbreviations
I. The Rebound
East Asia is leading the global rebound
Industrial production led the decline and now the rebound
Exports have also rebounded strongly
Capital in
fl
ows are recovering
The rising tide is not lifting all enterprises
The crisis has affected workers across sectors and regions
The pace of poverty reduction has slowed
II. Economic Policies Supporting Recovery In East Asia
Fiscal policies have been eased substantially
Monetary easing has supported the recovery
Exchange market intervention limited currency appreciation
Social policy has helped ameliorate the impact of the crisis on the poor
III. Transforming The Rebound Into Recovery
Country Pages & Key Indicators
Cambodia
China
ijiFIndonesia
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Solomon Islands
Thailand
Timor Leste
Vietnam
Appendix Tables & Charts

TRANSFORMING THE REBOUND INTO RECOVERY

V

iviivxi11247115171919112222242333363931444649415457595264666

VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The
East Asia and Pacifi c Update
was prepared by Ivailo Izvorski ([e-mail]) and Antonio Ollero under the
guidance of Vikram Nehru (East Asia and Paci
fi
c Regional Chief Economist and Director, Department for Poverty Reduction,
Economic Management, Private and Financial Sector Development). Inputs were provided by country economists and analysts
across World Bank of
fi
ces in East Asia and the Paci
fi
c, and by Andrew Burns, Ratchada Anantavrasilpa, Kirida Bhaopichitr,
Eric Le Borgne, Mansoor Dailami, Sung-Soo Eun, Xu Gao, Sepideh Khazai, Ulrich Lachler, Sheryll Namingit, Mick Riordan,
Frederico Gil Sander, Philip Schellekens, Manohar Sharma, Ashley Taylor, Hans Timmer, Ekaterina Vostroknutova, and Xiao Ye.
The update has bene
fi
tted from the assistance and guidance on design and external communications by Mohamad Al-Arief and
the External Affairs Team, and from assistance by Lynn Gross.

Emerging East Asia as used in this report includes Developing East Asia (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand,
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and the island economies in the Paci
fi
c) and the
Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs). The NIEs include Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Taiwan,
China. Middle-income countries, as used in this report, refer to China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Low-income countries as
used in this report include Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam. The ASEAN member countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ASEAN+3 refers to all members of
ASEAN plus China, Korea, and Japan, and ASEAN+6 also includes Australia, India, and New Zealand.

www.worldbank.org/eapupdate

EAP UPDATE
NOVEMBER 2009

SUMMARY

SUMMARY
VII

East Asia’s rebound from the economic downturn has been surprisingly swift and very welcome.
A year ago, exports and industrial
production fell sharply across the region, layoffs were on the rise, and capital
fl
owed out weakening asset prices and currencies.
A vigorous and timely
fi
scal and monetary stimulus in most countries in East Asia, led by China and the Republic of Korea,
along with decisive measures in developed economies to prevent a
fi
nancial meltdown after the collapse of Lehman Brothers,
have stopped the decline in activity and set in motion the regional rebound. The shift to inventory restocking since mid-2009 has
also helped boost growth. These factors have led us to revise our projection for real GDP growth in developing East Asia up by
1.3 percentage points since the previous forecast in April. All in all, real GDP growth is set to slow to 6.7 percent in 2009 from 8
percent in 2008, or much more moderately than after the 1997-98 Asian
fi
nancial crisis.

Developments in East Asia remain strongly influenced by China.
Take China out of the equation, and the rest of the region is recovering
with less vigor. For 2009 as a whole, output is projected to contract in Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and barely grow in
Mongolia and some of the Paci
fi
c islands. Even with solid growth in Indonesia and Vietnam, developing East Asia excluding
China is projected to grow more slowly in 2009 than South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and only modestly faster than
Sub-Saharan Africa.

The aggregate numbers mask not only large differences in growth performance: they tell an incomplete story about the social and poverty
impact of the crisis.
Lack of high frequency data on household incomes and expenditures makes it dif
fi
cult to track how the poor
are faring. Based on past patterns of poverty and growth – which may not hold during the current downturn and rebound – an
additional 14 million people will remain in poverty in the region in 2010 as a result of this crisis. Reduced demand for labor during
the downturn typically meant reduced work hours or lower wages, rather than outright layoffs. In some countries, where layoffs
occurred, workers moved to the informal sector. In the end, labor incomes fell substantially in 2009, with adverse consequences
for living standards. Poverty estimates do not capture these adverse consequences.

The rebound has yet to become a recovery.
That is why the authorities in the region are mindful of the risks of a premature withdrawal
of stimulus, given the large output gaps and concerns that developed countries are converging to a slower-growth equilibrium.
Some governments in the region will have the
fi
scal space to sustain
fi
scal stimulus until recovery is on a
fi
rmer footing and private
investment has been restarted. Others will be more restrained because of limited
fi
scal space. Overall, governments are aware
that
fi
scal and monetary stimulus alone cannot sustain domestic demand for an extended period of time, especially if investors
are not reassured that the authorities will have viable exit strategies in place and will bring government debt to levels that will
not jeopardize long-term debt sustainability. There are limits, moreover, to what
fi
scal and monetary policies can accomplish if
recovery in the developed countries, notably the U.S., remains weak for a longer period than currently deemed likely.

The crisis has prompted countries in the region to rethink their development strategies.
For most, the choice between growth driven by
exports, on the one hand, and growth driven by domestic demand, on the other, is a false one. Countries need to resist protectionism,
remain open and become more, not less, integrated into the global economy to continue to reap the bene
ᤙ