Asian economic growth will remain strong this year and in 2008 despite higher energy costs and recent market turbulence, Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda said ON November 17.
He said there would be no change to the bank's latest regional growth forecast of 8.3 percent this year and 8.2 percent in 2008, although inflationary pressures stemming from high oil prices remained a risk.
"There are a few risks but as I said, despite these risks, our main scenario for Asian economies is that growth will continue this year as well as next year," Kuroda told reporters on the sidelines of an ASEAN business meeting.
He acknowledged higher oil prices could have a "negative impact" but he was upbeat about the prospects for the region, which has shown its resilience as energy prices steadily rose.
"Growth momentum in Asia is so strong that up until now the Asian economies have grown very rapidly despite very high level of oil prices," said Kuroda. "So at this stage, we are aware of the risks but Asia's scenario will not be changing," he said.
New York oil prices closed above 95 US dollars a barrel on November 16 amid fresh tensions over Iran and predictions that OPEC will not discuss raising output at its weekend summit.