Singapore: Growth in Southeast Asia may weaken in the next quarter after "robust" expansions, hurt by a slowdown in China and uncertain prospects for the global economy, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.
Leading and coincident indicators for economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations show "steady growth based on sound exports and strong domestic demand", the OECD Development Centre said in a report on Monay. Still, the measures "suggest that growth in many Asean countries, while still robust, may be weakening in the next quarter", it said.
The global economic recovery is proving slower than projected and policy makers may need to extend or bolster stimulus programmes to support it, the Paris-based OECD had said on Thursday.
Asean better placed
The MSCI World Index of stocks is down about 1.9 per cent this year amid concern the global rebound from last year's recession is fading as stimulus ebbs and governments trim spending.
"Overall, growth prospects are stronger on average for the Asean economies than for the emerging Asia area including China and India," the OECD said in the report.
"Continued signs of slowing of the Chinese economy constitute a negative factor for the outlook for Asean economies, while uncertainty about growth prospects for OECD economies remain," it added.
