Asia well placed to withstand weaker global growth

Asia is well placed to withstand the impact of any major shocks to the global economy. The health of economic fundamentals and policymakers’ room for stimulus should enable the region to grow by just below trend this year, even though global growth looks set to disappoint. Despite the strong start to the year, currencies and equity markets are likely to weaken if, as we expect, global risk aversion returns. Government bond yields should generally trend lower over the next year or so.