Asia growth pessimism is not warranted

While secular stagnation for the global economy is still a debated hypothesis, for developing Asia, a downbeat view of its economies and policies is clearly overdone. While growth has slowed, it is still robust. At 6.5 percent annually over the last five years, Asia has remained the fastest growing region in the world. By comparison, developing countries outside Asia grew 3.4 percent and advanced countries only 1.6 percent annually during the same period.

Yes, developing Asia's growth is noticeably slower. In the decade up to 2010, annual average growth reached 7.6 percent. Our most recent forecasts project regional growth to edge down to 5.7 percent over the next two years.

This, however, does not portend a secular decline in the region's growth rates.