WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- East Asia's gross domestic product growth rate is likely to reach 6 percent this year, the World Bank said Wednesday.
In its semi-annual East Asia and Pacific Regional Update report, the bank said even though the tsunami last December had a huge toll in terms of lives lost, it will not have a major impact on the region's economic growth prospects.
Instead, the bank warned the downside risks coming from higher oil prices, a potential slowdown in China's growth and a decline in global trade and Asian exports.
"We are seeing substantial reductions in poverty rates in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, and income gains in rural and urban areas, which are very promising. This is especially important as the world is focused this year on accelerating progress on the goal of halving extreme poverty by the year 2015," said the bank's East Asia Vice President Jemal-ud-din Kassum.
