Home / Business / News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
ADB: Inflation to be biggest risk for Asia in future
Adjust font size:

Inflation will be the biggest risk for Asia in the future, Rajat M. Nag, Managing Director-General of Asian Development Bank (ADB), said in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Since the people of Asia couldn't accept the rising prices, the measure of reducing subsidy taken by government is right, he said at the 17th World Economic Forum on East Asian (WEF on East Asia) which opened on Sunday.

"Generally speaking, Asia can provide enough food for its people, but the challenge of the government is that people can afford it," he said.

The subsidy policy of the government need to be aimed at controlling inflation and ensure the lives of the poor people, Nag said, adding that the government need to provide subsidy for medicine and education for its people.

Besides, Asia faces the problem of inequality, he said.

The income gap is widening because the rich are getting richer faster than the poor are getting richer, he said.

"That is a major risk which can sow the seeds of social dissent and discord," Nag said.

"I think Asia has been a tremendous success story in fighting poverty. In 1990, one in three Asians subsisted on two dollars a day. In 2000, that became one in five," he said.

Nag estimated that Asia needs 300 billion U.S. dollars a year of investments in infrastructure over the next 10 years.

This huge demand present tremendous opportunity for governments in the region and the private sector to collaborate, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2008)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
- China to Help Asian Economy in Crisis
- Inflation to cause global recession
Most Viewed >>
- Auto China 2008 staged in Beijing
- Auto China 2008 staged in Beijing
- Four factors linked to Chinese diesel oil shortage
- China's first disaster cover launched
- Chinese firms seeking to buy assets shift focus to Europe
- Output of Major Industrial Products
- Investment by Various Sectors
- Foreign Direct Investment by Country or Region
- National Price Index
- Value of Major Commodity Import
- Money Supply
- Exchange Rate and Foreign Exchange Reserve
- What does the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement cover?
- How to Set up a Foreign Capital Enterprise in China?
- How Does the VAT Works in China?
- How Much RMB or Foreign Currency Can Be Physically Carried Out of or Into China?
- What Is the Electrical Fitting in China?