ASEAN's economy to grow by 5.4 percent in 2010: IMF

Driven by domestic demands, economies in five countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to grow by 5.4 percent in 2010, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday.

"The ASEAN-5 economies are projected to grow by 5.4 percent in 2010. Private domestic demand is expected to be the main driver of growth," said the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook report, referring to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Among the ASEAN-5, the Indonesian economy has proved to be remarkably resilient, with output growing at 4.5 percent in 2009 compared with 1.75 percent for the ASEAN-5 as a whole, thanks to strong domestic demand and less dependence on trade.

"Indonesia's growth is expected to accelerate to 6 percent in 2010 and to 6.25 percent in 2011, reflecting a pickup in private investment," said the IMF.

In the report, the IMF said "the global recovery has evolved better than expected, with activity recovering at varying speeds, tepidly in many advanced economies but solidly in most emerging and developing economies."

The world economy, which declined by 0.6 percent in 2009, will recover gradually in 2010 and 2011, growing by 4.2 percent and 4.3 percent respectively, according to the IMF, Asia's GDP is projected to grow by 7 percent in both years.

Source:Xinhua