Economic growth in East Asia will slow down this year due to a deteriorating external environment and continued oil price hikes, dpa quoted an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report as saying Tuesday. According to the ADB's Asia Economic Monitor (AEM), East Asia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth was projected to average 6.8 per cent in 2005, down from 7.6 per cent in 2004. East Asia covers the 10 ASEAN countries - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar - plus China and South Korea. "The external economic environment facing East Asia is expected to be less favourable this year," said the AEM, produced by the ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI). It cited the softening of growth in major industrial countries and the weakening of global demand for information technology products for the worsening external economic environment. Record oil prices aggravate the scenario, leading to "a moderate slowdown" in East Asia's GDP growth, the report added. "Singapore is likely to be among the economies hardest hit by the deteriorating external environment," the Manila-based ADB said. Singapore was expected to post a GDP growth of only 3.7 per cent in 2005, down from 8.4 per cent in 2004, the AEM said. "Singapore's highly open economy will be adversely affected by weaker export prospects," it added. "Slower export growth may affect consumer and business sentiments, thus affecting domestic demand." --mor 1035 Local Time 0735 GMT
