Jang Ping Thia: It is under-appreciated how resilient Asia on the whole has been in the past three years. East and south-east Asian economies have benefited from being integrated into global production chains, and goods demand during the Covid-19 pandemic supported these economies even as services languished. Many have learned deep lessons from the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and maintained prudent macro policies.
South Asia was affected by the pandemic, but remittances cushioned the impact. That region was probably more affected by higher fuel and commodity prices depleting reserves, and some would require International Monetary Fund support. All said, Asian emerging and developing economies are expected to grow 5.2% in 2023, and it is still the fastest-growing region in the world.
