China’s ‘sharp, uncharacteristic’ economic slowdown to drag on Asian growth, IMF says

International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgrades its growth forecast for Asia to 4 per cent this year, down 0.9 percentage points from a previous outlook in April

Growth in the region faces headwinds from a Chinese economy weighed down by a hardline zero-Covid policy and a crisis in the property sector, organisation says

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Official data on Monday showed China’s economy grew by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:59am, 28 Oct 2022Updated: 10:46am, 28 Oct 2022

China’s “sharp and uncharacteristic” economic slowdown is expected to drag on growth across Asia through until the end of next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Friday, darkening an already gloomy global outlook.

Worldwide economic prospects have dimmed this year as countries have faced higher living costs, tighter financial conditions and increased uncertainty following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The crises have dulled the rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, even as Asia has remained a “relative bright spot” compared with other parts of the globe, the IMF said in its Regional Economic Outlook.

But growth in the region faces headwinds from a Chinese economy weighed down by a hardline zero-Covid policy and a crisis in the property sector, the organisation said.

Earlier this month, the IMF announced it had cut its growth forecast for China to 3.2 per cent in 2022, which would be the smallest expansion of the world’s second-largest economy in around four decades, excluding the first year of the pandemic.