Despite the presence of the SARS epidemic in the region, the Asian Development Bank said its 41 members’ economies would still be the world's economic bright spot with their economies growing by 5.3 per cent this year and 5.9 per cent in 2004.
For the whole of Asia, the ADB said the economic impact of SARS was projected to slash about 0.1 or 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product growth, factoring in the effects of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak on the economies of China, Hong Kong and Singapore where a high level of SARS incidence had been recorded.
For this year, the ADB said it expected East Asia to grow 5.6 per cent; Southeast Asia, 4 per cent; South Asia, 5.7 per cent; Central Asia 5.8 per cent and the Pacific, 2.4 per cent. The figures are comparatively higher than the projected 1.5 to 1.7 per cent growth in industrial countries, including the United States, Japan and the European Union.
