The World Bank expected that the East Asia and Pacific region, including China, would witness a slowdown in economic growth this year to 3.2%, down from the bank's forecast last April of 5%.
The World Bank said economic growth in East Asia and the Pacific will weaken sharply in 2022 due to the slowdown in China, but the pace of growth will pick up next year.
The World Bank indicated that the weak outlook is mainly due to the sharp slowdown in China, caused by its strict non-proliferation rules for the Corona virus, called the “zero Covid” policy, which has disrupted industrial production, domestic sales and exports.
China, which accounts for 86 percent of the 23-nation region's economic output, is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year, much slower than the bank's previous forecast of 5 percent.
In 2021, the Chinese economy grew by 8.1%, its best growth in 10 years. For 2023, the world's second largest economy is expected to grow 4.5%.
According to the World Bank report, there is another danger to the region's prospects, which is the sharp increases in interest rates decided by central banks around the world to combat rising inflation.
The World Bank said it caused an outflow of capital and a depreciation of currencies.
