Emerging economies 'driving recovery'

Nation's buoyant demand for commodities has global benefits

Emerging nations have become a major driving force for global economic recovery, indicating a shift in the balance of global economic power after the financial crisis, according to a report released by HSBC on Friday.

HSBC's Emerging Markets Insights, an annual report based on the bank's emerging market index, said emerging economies will continue to bolster global recovery this year, as the index for the fourth quarter of 2009 showed manufacturing and service output in these countries grew at the fastest pace in the past two years.