Brunei on track for economic growth: AMRO

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Brunei Darussalam is well positioned for economic growth, with the latest quarterly outlook from a regional economic research organization projecting growth of 1.1 percent in 2023 and 2.0 percent in 2024.

According to the local daily Borneo Bulletin on Saturday, this upward revision was made by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) in its quarterly update of the 2023 ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO) in October, which raised the Sultanate's economic growth forecast from its previous estimate of 1.0 percent in July.

AMRO also revised Brunei's 2023 inflation outlook from the previous estimate of 0.9 percent to 1.0 percent, while the 2024 inflation outlook was increased to 1.1 percent.

AMRO aims to contribute to securing the macroeconomic and financial resilience and stability of the ASEAN+3 region, which comprises the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China, Japan and South Korea.

The AMRO outlook emphasized that despite a less optimistic global economic outlook for the coming year, growth in the region will be supported by an expected turnaround in manufacturing exports and improved growth momentum in China.

The ASEAN+3 region's economy is expected to grow by 4.3 percent in 2023, slightly lower than the 4.6 percent forecast in July.

However, AMRO expected a rebound in 2024 with a growth rate of 4.5 percent. This is mainly due to China's policy support measures to boost domestic demand, the gradual growth of durable goods consumption in the United States, and the expected recovery of the global technology sector, all of which are likely to boost regional exports.