World Bank predicts growth pick-up for developing countries in 2015
World Bank forecasts that falling oil prices will spur economic growth in emerging markets
The World Bank predicted a pick-up in economic growth for developing countries, spurred by falling oil prices and despite a slight slowdown in global engine China.
Developing countries' growth in gross domestic product was expected to hit an annual pace of 4.8 per cent in 2015, up from 4.4 per cent last year, and surge to 5.3 per cent in 2016, according to the latest forecasts from the World Bank.
"Following another disappointing year in 2014, developing countries should see an uptick in growth this year, boosted in part by soft oil prices, a stronger US economy, continued low global interest rates" and improvements in several large emerging market economies, the World Bank said in a statement.
The update of its Global Economic Prospects report showed that momentum in the developing countries would push growth in the global economy higher, to a moderate 3 per cent this year from 2.6 per cent last year, despite persistent weakness in the euro zone and Japan.
For China, the leader of the emerging market economies, "structural reforms, a gradual withdrawal of fiscal stimulus, and continued prudential measures to slow credit expansion will result in slowing growth to 6.9 per cent by 2017 from 7.4 per cent in 2014", the bank said.
The GDP of the world's second-largest economy was projected to increase by 7.1 per cent this year and slow slightly to a rate of 7 per cent in 2016.
