Growth Depends on Oil Rates Falling: ADB

The Asian Development Bank said the rapid growth of the region’s economies may only be sustained if there is a decline in global oil prices, now close to a record after rising on concerns over Iran.

“The current level of oil prices is unsustainably high,” Asian Development Bank President Harukiho Kuroda said on the opening day of the three-day meeting. “Oil producers should try to stabilize prices around more sustainable levels, compatible with the development of countries in the world, consuming countries, including developing member- countries in Asia.”

..Oil producers should increase investment in exploration and production, the bank president said. “All countries concerned should increase refinery capacity,” Kuroda said.

Kuroda expects regional economies, including those of China and India, to “continue to grow rapidly.”

The central bank chief of the host country, the second- fastest-growing large economy in the world after China, said oil prices posed an “important risk” to the South Asian nation’s $775 billion economy.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy, speaking at the bank meeting, called on the Indian government to take a decision on fuel prices, unchanged for about eight months.

Bloomberg