Crisis in U.S., Europe slows growth in Asia, ADB's Kuroda warns

TOKYO, Oct. 9 Kyodo - The current financial crisis in the United States and Europe has been affecting economies in Asia, causing slower growth on weaker exports, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday.

While direct or indirect impact from the credit crisis is limited on the Asian
financial system due to its relatively small exposure to complex securitization
markets, Kuroda warned that slowdown in the U.S. and European economies have
certain impacts on real economies in Asia.
The crisis ''is slowing the Asian economy through weaker exports to the United
States and Europe,'' the visiting chief of the Manila-based lender said at a
lecture in Tokyo.
Kuroda indicated that recent plunges in global stock markets are inevitable as
stock trading has been increasingly globalized and that investors in one region
cannot be immune to development in other areas.
However, he sounded optimistic about the impact of stock falls on the Asian
economies, saying the roles played by stock markets are less crucial in Asia
compared with Europe and the United States.
''I doubt Asia would again suffer a financial crisis like the one experienced a
decade ago,'' he said.
On inflation, Kuroda said, ''The worst period is over'' for Asia. He added that
the ADB is now more concerned about a possible slowdown in the regional
economies toward next year and authorities are likely to be forced to consider
loosening fiscal and credit conditions.