MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says Central Asia’s growth is forecast to deepen this year. Plunging petroleum prices, recession in the Russian Federation and weakness in other trading partners have taken their toll on Central Asia, where average growth plummeted to 2.9 percent in 2015 from 5.3 percent a year earlier.
Forecasts of even lower petroleum prices and continued recession in the Russian Federation will result in overall grow slowing to 2.1 percent this year for the region, with a contraction forecast for Azerbaijan and growth at only 0.7 percent for Kazakhstan.
The ADB says growth is projected to recover somewhat to 2.8 percent next year on the strength of an improved external outlook and somewhat higher petroleum prices. Steep currency depreciation in several economies helped push average inflation to 6.2 percent in 2015 from 5.7 percent last year. Average inflation is expected to rise to 10.8 percent by the end of 2016 with inflation reaching double digits in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan.
