Asia is expected to meet its growth forecasts for this year and the next on strong domestic demand and easing inflation pressures. For this year and the next, China is expected to grow at 6.6 per cent and 6.3 per cent. India is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent.

The Asian region as a whole is expected to grow at six per cent in 2018 and 5.8 per cent in 2019. However, the trade conflict between the US and China poses a risk to economic prospects in the region. Another risk is from the rising tide of trade protectionism.

The Asian Development Bank has raised its 2019 growth outlook for Central Asia to 4.3 per cent from the September projection of 4.2 per cent. The forecasts for southeast Asia and south Asia for the next year have been lowered to 5.1 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively.

Easing commodity prices and central bank policy actions could cause the pace of inflation in developing Asia to settle at 2.6 per cent this year and to 2.7 per cent in 2019. Early this month, the US and China agreed to a 90-day truce on further tariffs as they try to negotiate a deal.