A cargo vessel at Pasir Panjang Port of Singapore (Photo: AFP/VNA) In the bank's first-quarter global outlook report, Enrico Tanuwidjaja, an economist at UOB ASEAN, said ASEAN countries rode out volatile markets in 2022, beset by lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine conflict, US-China tensions, sharp price spikes and supply disruptions of energy and commodities, inflation spikes around the world, aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, and a US dollar rally.
The economies’ resilience last year should help them amid looming risks for recessions in the US, the UK and Europe, tightened financial conditions, further straining of US-China relations and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, among others.
Last year, GDP growth for most economies rebounded strongly in the second and third quarters on the back of export demand and increasing domestic demand as COVID-19 restrictions have mostly been lifted.
The removal of COVID-19 restrictions and reopening of domestic economies across ASEAN since mid-2022 added to recovery momentum as visitor flows surged and services sectors rebounded. These factors are expected to be the main pillar for various ASEAN economies this year.
Nonetheless, given the export-oriented nature of ASEAN economies, the possibility of spillovers from several remaining risk factors cannot be ignored. Overall, GDP growth rates around the world will be lower in 2023. Major ASEAN economies are expected to see growth slowing to around 5% this year from above 6% in 2022, Tanuwidjaja said./.
VNA
