APEC forecasts 6% regional growth for 2021, high inflation
Sydney, Australia, Nov 8 (EFE).- The economy of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region is expected to grow 6 percent in 2021, the bloc reported Monday, while warning of the rise in inflation.
In the first half of the year, Asia-Pacific registered a joint growth of 8 percent, compared to the 3.7 percent contraction during the same period of 2020, a statement from APEC said.
The analysts also forecast 4.9 percent growth for 2022 in anticipation of the reversal of the fiscal and monetary support measures implemented by the member countries to keep their economies running during the pandemic.
APEC, which on Monday began a week of video conferences with a meeting between trade and foreign ministers, underlined a “concerning development in rising inflation,” with a rate of 2.6 percent in the first nine months of 2021, which “if left unaddressed” could affect recovery.
APEC Support Policy Unit director Denis Hew added that countries should “urgently address” unequal access to vaccines “to avoid a two-track recovery,” emphasizing that “economic, trade and health policies are intertwined.”
The APEC forum, which this year is hosted by New Zealand and which this Friday celebrates the meeting of leaders, represents 60 percent of the world’s GDP and more than half of global trade. It forms a market of about 2.85 billion consumers – 40 percent of the world’s population – and aims to establish a free-trade zone between the 21 members.
The economies that make up APEC, founded in 1989, are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United States and Vietnam. EFE
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