Asian economy to overhaul US, EU economies by 2030: IMF

On current trends, a leading IMF economist has said, Asia's economy will be larger than that of the United States and the European Union economies combined by 2030, with the region's share of world GDP growing from a little under 30 per cent to more than 40 per cent.

Asia's importance as economic powerhouse, engine of growth for world economy will continue to grow, says IMF Asia chief Anoop Singh (IMF photo)

Addressing an audience at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, the head of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, Anoop Singh, said the region's share of world growth is likely to increase, enhancing Asia's role as an economic powerhouse over the next few decades.

 ''Twenty years from now, Asia's economy as a whole will, on these trends, be larger than that of the G-7 [Group of Seven leading economies] and will be half the size of the G-20 [Group of Twenty advanced and emerging market economies],''said Singh.

''These are incredible trends taking place.''

Singh pointed out that Asia's rapid growth over the last two decades has been accompanied by a dramatic reduction in poverty. In the East Asia and Pacific region alone, the percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day has dropped from 55 per cent in 1990 to 17 per cent in 2005. That figure is predicted to fall a further 10 percentage points over the next six years.

But Singh also sounded a note of caution.