Better than expected economic performance in East Asia economies in 2005

Strong growth in China, Vietnam and Indonesia helped pave the way for better than expected economic performance in East Asia economies in 2005. That’s the assessment of the latest regional economic report for East Asia and the Pacific which says developing countries in the region grew by about 8.2 percent last year – countering a series of threats including rising oil prices and interest rates and worries over the financing of the United States current account deficit. The report says growth for emerging East Asian economies was 6.8 percent for 2005. The East Asia Update says the prospects for 2006 also look reasonably firm, with aggregate regional growth expected to exceed 6.5 percent for the third year in a row.