Asian countries are recovering from the global crisis more quickly and with more force than in any other region of the world, according to the Director of the Asia Pacific Department of the IMF, Anoon Singh speaking in Istanbul.
Even with this good news Asia is facing a key time since unemployment will increase in the coming years while political leaders from the region will have to face up to the challenge of consolidating a new model based on greater internal private demand, stated Singh during a press conference held at the Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank.
According to IMF forecasts published this week, Asia as a whole will grow by 2.8% this year and by 5.8% in 2010.
Asian countries were badly hit during the worst recession in recent years, according to Singh, who stated that Asian exports fell by 30%; there was capital flight and a sharp decline in production.
Nevertheless, Asia managed to recover since the fiscal stimulus was substantially greater than the average of the G20 industrialized and emerging nations and it was deployed very quickly, he added.
According to Singh the recovery was not only due to fiscal stimulus but also monetary policies and measures adopted to stabilize financial markets.
The IMF expects that this year approximately half of the growth will be stimulated by spending in the public sector.
"The impulse for Asia must come from within", Singh emphasized and at the same time he advised regional governments that they would have to transit a hard road towards a model based on increased demand from the private sector.
