Western policies may slow growth
Long-term growth prospects for developing economies, including Cambodia, will continue to be undermined by a lack of investment as well as the risk of increased protectionist policies by the United States, which could hamper the growth of commodity-driven economies, according to a new report released on Sunday. In the World Bank’s latest forecast for East Asia and Pacific, economists said that despite a modest growth in the region that has dampened the weight of a Chinese slowdown, heightened policy uncertainty coming out of Washington, fiscal policies that are under review in Europe and the exit of Britain from the European Union “carries risks that could weigh on investor confidence”. The report said that with the United States reassessing a number of existing trade agreements, including its exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, revisions of these agreements would “disproportionately” hurt countries in the region.
