World Bank asks South Asia to reform for growth

The World Bank has said that growth in South Asian countries will dip in 2013-14 and countries must revitalise structural reforms to ensure their region returns to the ranks of the world’s fastest-growing economies and cuts poverty.

South Asia’s performance has been trending downward, Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank vice president for the South Asia Region said. The shift of capital out of emerging economies as investors anticipated the unwinding of the US easy monetary policy had highlighted structural weakness in the region, said Martin Rama, the World Bank’s chief economist for South Asia, said.

The bank has projected that regional GDP will grow by 4.4 percent in calendar 2013, 5.7 per cent in 2014, and 6.2 per cent in 2015. India, which accounts for 80 per cent of South Asian GDP, would expand 4.7 per cent in fiscal 2013-14, down from 5 per cent the previous year, it said.