The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut the growth forecasts for Asia and the Pacific to 4% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2023 in its latest report. The latest revision represents a 0.9 and 0.8 percentage point reduction respectively compared to April's report. "Despite this, Asia remains a relative bright spot in an increasingly dimming global economy," said IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department Director Krishna Srinivasan.
The IMF also identified downside risks for the region. They include global financial tightening, the war in Ukraine, which caused a spike in the prices of commodities, and a "sharp and uncharacteristic slowdown in China." The organization revised China's growth forecast down to 3.2% for 2022, its second-lowest level since 1977, "reflecting the impact of the zero-COVID lockdowns on mobility and the crisis in the real estate sector."
