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Escap region's growth

rate strong in '95

KARACHI: The rate of economic growth in the developing countries of the Escap region remained strong in 1995, averaging 7.8 percent as against a world average rate of growth of 2.6 percent. The average rate for the region in 1995 was slightly lower than eight percent growth achieved in 1994.

A further declaration of the average rate of growth to 7.4 percent in 1996 and 7.2 percent in 1997 is expected when world average rates of growth are projected to rise to three percent.

The slowdown in the region reflects policy restraints being used in some of the fast growing economies to prevent them from being overheated in the face of constraints such as labour and skill shortages and infrastructural bottlenecks, says a latest United Nations report.

In South Asia, the average rate of growth accelerated somewhat from 5.1 percent in 1994 to 5.5 percent in 1995. Further moderate acceleration to 6 percent is expected in 1996 and 1997.

All five economies of South Asia (Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) are expected to contribute to this acceleration. Recent Economic reforms introduced in these economies are expected to bring about the better outcomes unless their implementations are stalled.

The region's least developed countries, small Pacific island economies and the economies in transition in the Central Asian sub-region, could hardly achieve any satisfactory progress and their prospects remained, by and large, less than promising, the report noted.

In South Asia, India and Sri Lanka succeeded in bringing down their inflation rates to single digit levels, but in Pakistan the rate accelerated to reach about 13 percent in 1995. With a few exceptions the least developed countries and the Pacific island economies generally succeeded in holding their inflation rates down to single digit levels.

The dollar value of trade from the developing countries of the Escap region recorded average 14 to 15 percent growth even during the worst recession years 1991 and 1992. The rate had accelerated to 20 percent for exports and 18 percent for imports.-PPI