Asian economies will do well: S&P

The major economies of the Asia-Pacific region will achieve good growth in 2006 despite the threat of rising oil prices and interest rates, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P).

The leading credit rating agency stated that of 19 sovereigns in the Asia-Pacific region it has rated, eight have a positive outlook and two a negative outlook.

Last month, it revised the outlooks for Hong Kong and India from stable to positive because of fiscal improvements and for the Philippines to stable from negative.

Sri Lanka was the only country with a negative rating because of escalating domestic military conflict, Ping Chew, director of sovereign international public finance & financial services ratings, S&P, said.

According to S&P, oil prices and interest rates are being driven higher in large part by strong global economic growth. "So long as this is the case, the risks to global economic growth will be low."

This general assessment, Chew said, applied to Asia because of its ties with the US business cycle through exports.

It also meant that countries that tend to be less engaged with the global economy would feel the adverse consequences of high oil prices and interest rates more.