The Hindu Business Line : `S. Asia GDP estimated to have expanded at 8.2 pc in 2006'

NEW RELEASE: Mr M. V. Rajasekharan, Minister of State for Planning, flanked by Mr. Anil K. Agarwal, President, Assocham, and Mr Fayez Omar, Acting Country Director, World Bank, releasing a report in the Capital on Friday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Dec. 15

The World Bank has said that GDP in South Asia is estimated to have expanded at a rapid pace of 8.2 per cent in 2006, with India leading the way with GDP growing by an estimated 8.7 per cent, backed by non-agricultural growth in excess of 10 per cent.

Releasing a World Bank report on `Global Economic Prospects 2007: Managing the Next Wave of Globalisation', Mr Fayez Omar, Acting Country Director (India), World Bank, said, "This strong growth in the region is fuelled by economic reforms that have promoted private sector-led growth, sound macro management, and greater integration with the global economy. But the region faces several risks. Unless policymakers act early and decisively to control rising macro-economic imbalances, inflation outturns will be higher, current account deficits larger, and the subsequent slowdown more pronounced."

The report predicts that globalisation will expand the global economy from $35 trillion in 2005 to $72 trillion in 2030. "While this outcome represents only a slight acceleration of global growth compared to the past 25 years, it is driven more than ever before by strong performance in developing countries," said Mr Richard Newfarmer, the report's lead author and Economic Advisor in the Trade Department. "And, while exact numbers will undoubtedly turn out to be different, the underlying trends are relatively impervious to all but the most severe or disruptive shocks," he said.

Globalisation is likely to bring benefits to many. By 2030, 1.2 billion people in developing countries - 15 per cent of the world population - will belong to the "global middle class", up from 400 million today. This group will have a purchasing power of between $4,000 and $17,000 per capita.