World Bank’s Sri Mulyani Says Asean Is Resilient To Europe Woes

Bloomberg, by Keiko Ujikane and Aika Nanao - May 25, 2012

World Bank Managing

 Director Sri Mulyani

Indrawati (Bloomberg)

Economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are “resilient” to Europe’s sovereign debt woes, with governments having room for monetary and fiscal policy changes, World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

“For countries, especially Asean countries who are very resilient to the crisis, they still have the ability to maneuver from their own policy space, whether this is on a fiscal side or a monetary side,” Sri Mulyani said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. “That’s very important.”

 

Asian policy makers are under renewed pressure to support growth as the world grapples with the threat of a Greek exit from the euro. Greece’s political impasse has deepened the European crisis and sent Asian currencies and stockstumbling, adding to the uncertain outlook for exports and growth.

Sri Mulyani said developments in Europe will definitely affect Asia, especially East Asia, because of the region’s export-led growth model and deleveraging by European banks.

Growth in developing East Asia, which excludes Japan and India, will probably ease to 7.6 percent this year from 8.2 percent in 2011, according to a World Bank report released this week. The region’s economy will likely expand 8 percent in 2013, the report said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net; Aika Nanao in Tokyo at ananao@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net