Asia, Global Economy | featured news

The slowdown added to worries about the ability of the world’s second-largest economy to offset low growth elsewhere. The country’s gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 7.6 percent in the April to June period, down sharply from the 9.5 percent a year earlier, according to government figures released Friday morning. The second-quarter growth rate was half a point below the 8.1 percent for the first three months of this year.

China's economy appears to be weakening more rapidly than official statistics would suggest, raising fears of a painful slowdown that could be felt around the globe. Second-quarter gross domestic product statistics to be released this week are expected to show growth of around 7.5% compared with the same period last year, according to analysts' estimates. That would be the slowest pace since the depths of the global financial crisis. But government data are widely believed to understate the extent of China's woes.

At a time when much of the advanced world is unloading its debt, South Koreans are still borrowing at a feverish rate that economists say is unsustainable, and potentially dangerous.

Premier Wen Jiabao of China on Sunday called for the government to become more aggressive in using fiscal and monetary tools to respond to a slowing economy.

China's second surprise rate cut and lending reform in the space of a month shows that Beijing wants borrowing to play a greater role in reviving an economy struggling with its weakest pace of growth since the global financial crisis.

A closely watched survey by Japan's central bank has found big manufacturers have more confidence in the world's third-largest economy than they did three months ago.

China's factory downturn worsened in June as a key activity index hit a seven-month low, data expected to raise expectations the central bank may seek more policy easing to revive the world's second-largest economy.

Japanese industrial production fell a worse-than-expected 3.1% in May from the previous month while consumer prices were lower in the period, in a sign that a recovery in the domestic economy has yet to take hold.

The Indian government plans to take steps to boost exports and increase dollar inflows to give a much-need lift to the economy and arrest the slide in the Indian rupee, a senior official from the finance ministry said Saturday.

India's industrial output was flat in April, deepening worries of an economic slowdown in Asia's third-largest economy and upping the pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates next week.