Global economic slowdown to rattle South-east Asia

A projected slowdown across major global economies in 2019 is a drag on the demand outlook for the entire South-east Asian region, where many developing and emerging nations rely on exports to power growth. The International Monetary Fund last October cut its forecast for global economic and trade growth for this year and 2020, citing increasing tensions between the US, the world’s biggest economy, and its key trade partners. Among fast-growing regional economies, Vietnam’s GDP growth rate is expected to slow to 6.5 percent in 2019 from 7.1 percent a year earlier as slowing global momentum erodes export performance, according to Fitch. On a wider level, it expects global GDP growth to peak in 2018 at 3.4 percent, before decelerating to 3.1 percent in 2019 and 2.9 percent in 2020. The slowdown will likely be driven by “a broad deceleration across major economies” such as the US that is expected to grow 0.7 percent slower than 2018, and China, which will likely experience a 0.3 percent drop in GDP growth. The potential decline in the economic growth of the US comes as the positive impact of President Donald Trump’s expansionary fiscal policy is expected to fade amid the prospect of tighter monetary conditions. CapCam