Asia-Pacific Region to Benefit from Japan Recovery: World Bank

Washington, April 14 (Jiji Press)--Developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to benefit from Japan's economic recovery, the World Bank said in a report Sunday. Japan's policy effort to support growth, including the adoption of a 2 pct inflation target, has led to a 19.7 pct depreciation of the yen in real effective terms from July last year to March this year, the bank said. Competitors of Japanese exporters in third markets, particularly South Korea, "may experience competitive pressures in the short term" following the yen's sharp drop, the World Bank said. But suppliers of parts and components to Japan, such as Thailand and the Philippines, "may benefit" from Japanese exporters' advances in the global market and "gain even more" from a possible increase in Japan's foreign direct investment, according to the report. "More general, if Japan manages to escape its deflation and rekindle growth...all developing economies in the region would benefit through higher exports," it said. The World Bank also said that real gross domestic product growth for developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to accelerate to 7.8 pct in 2013 from 7.5 pct in 2012 thanks to a pickup in the Chinese economy, although the estimate is slower than 7.9 pct forecast in December last year. The Chinese economy is seen expanding 8.3 pct this year after the 7.8 pct growth in the previous year. Excluding China, growth in the region's developing economies is forecast to slow to 5.7 pct from 6.2 pct. Real GDP growth is forecast at 7.6 pct for the whole of the region for 2014, the World Bank said. END