In East Asia, growth picked up in Hong Kong, China and Taipei, China, though growth forecasts are unchanged for the subregion at 6.0 percent in 2018 and 5.8 percent in 2019. The world's second largest economy, the People's Republic of China, is projected to meet previous forecasts of 6.6 percent in 2018 and 6.4 percent in 2019, as the government's efforts to rebalance growth toward domestic consumption remain on track.

South Asia, meanwhile, continues to be the fastest growing subregion, led by India, whose economy is on track to meet fiscal year 2018 projected growth of 7.3 percent and further accelerating to 7.6 percent in 2019, as measures taken to strengthen the banking system and tax reform boost investment. In both Pakistan and Bangladesh, agriculture recorded notable improvement over the last year, surpassing expectations and driving growth.

In Southeast Asia, growth projections for the subregion remain unchanged at 5.2 percent in both 2018 and 2019, as robust domestic demand continue to support economies in the region. Higher public investment boosted first quarter growth in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, while private investment was strong in Viet Nam.

Central Asia is growing faster than expected, prompting an upward revision to forecasts from 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent in 2018 and from 4.2 percent to 4.3 percent in 2019.

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