China's economy may have bottomed out: ADB president

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

BALI, Indonesia, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy may have already bottomed out, and been on the recovery phase, said Haruhiko Kuroda, President of Asian Development Bank Tuesday.

Kuroda made the judgment at the press conference on the last day of the ADB's Annual Meeting, on the basis of his observations "in this meeting as well as from various statistics already released".

"China's economy is on recovery course and it could recovery much earlier than other economies, but of course, at the same time, we have to be very cautious," Kuroda told reporters.

Kuroda added that the South Korean economy had showed signs of recovery, and Japan's industrial production showed some signs of bottoming out.

"On the whole, I'm cautiously optimistic that Asia will recover by the end of next year," the President said.

ADB forecasts the growth rate for the Asian countries in 2009 is 3.4 percent and they will show a mild recovery in 2010 with a growth rate of more than 6 percent.

ADB president: Asia-Pacific region should rebalance growth

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

BALI, Indonesia, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Asia and Pacific region must
rebalance growth amid the influence of global financial crisis, said Asian
Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda on Monday at the opening
session of the 42nd ADB Board of Governors Annual Meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

"By rebalancing export-driven growth with a greater reliance on domestic
demand and consumption, Asia can lead the way in charting a new, globally
beneficial development course," he said.

In that case, Kuroda called on Asian countries to reinforce domestic demand
and revitalize their domestic economies. He said that these countries need to
spend more on health, education, and social security to reduce household needs
for precautionary savings; need strategies to transfer more corporate savings to
households to encourage greater consumer spending; and need the policies that
promote small and medium-sized enterprises and service industries to better
align domestic production with domestic demand.

Kuroda added that rebalancing also requires a stronger and more stable
regional investment climate to channel savings into effective and efficient
investment within the region. Therefore, Asia needs a seamless infrastructure,
which includes physical assets and the enabling policies, regulations, and
institutions.

"ADB's infrastructure investments last year totaled more than 5billion U.S.
dollars in transport and energy alone. But with financing needs estimated at 750
billion dollars a year, much more needs to be done," he said.

"With Strategy 2020, the replenished Asian Development Fund, a substantial
capital increase and our ongoing commitment to institutional effectiveness, ADB
is well-positioned to play an expanded role in the region's future development,"
Kuroda said.

ADB President: bond market important solution to Asia's problems

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

BALI, Indonesia, May 3 (Xinhua)
-- Haruhiko Kuroda, President of Asian Development Bank (ADB), on Sunday called
for the development of Asia's bond market to mitigate the impact of the economic
crisis.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President
Haruhiko Kuroda (R) speaks at a governor's seminar during the ADB annual
meeting in Bali, Indonesia, May 3, 2009. Haruhiko Kuroda calls for the
development of Asia's bond market to mitigate the impact of the economic
crisis. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Photo Gallery

"Positive progress in bond market could be a very
important solution to Asia's problems faced by so many countries," Kuroda said
at the ADB annual meeting.

"By developing bond market,
Asia's large savings could be integrated into more productive investment, including
infrastructure investment in Asia, may help reduce imbalance, one of the problems
of the crisis," he said.

Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (L4) speaks at
a governor's seminar during the ADB annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia, May
3, 2009. President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda calls for
the development of Asia's bond market to mitigate the impact of the
economic crisis.(Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Photo Gallery

In a previous interview with Xinhua, the President
said at the regional level, ADB is working with ASEAN+3 to accelerate the
establishment of a credit guarantee facility in local currency bond markets to
make it easier for private companies to meet their local currency funding needs.

"This facility could provide credit guarantees for
bonds issued by domestic commercial banks to revitalize capital inflows and
allow banks to continue lending in the crisis," he said.