ASIA-PACIFIC economies need to recalibrate financial policies in the face of slowing global growth, United States Deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin said on Wednesday, following a meeting of regional financial officials to prepare for next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.
Countries in the region are looking to boost financing for the construction of roads, bridges and other necessary infrastructure and will submit proposals to do so to the summit, which will be in Beijing. Figures showing lower Chinese growth announced this week have raised concerns about negative effects on the global economy and highlighted the need for coordinated action.
“Global demand is slowing and it is going to be something that we as a group of countries are going to need to pay particular attention to,” Raskin said at a news conference following the final session of the preparatory meeting, also in Beijing. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month cut its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent. Even so, the IMF now expects the US economy to grow 2.2 percent this year, up from its June forecast of 1.7 percent.
Emphasizing the importance of infrastructure to growth, the Asian Development Bank estimates that Asian countries need to spend $8 trillion on such projects between 2010 and 2020 to keep their economies humming.