Asia's economic outlook sunny with chance of rain

Tokyo

ECONOMIC prospects across most of Asia have taken a quite sharp turn for the better in terms of trade and output levels as well as a surge in capital flows into the region, senior economic officials in Washington told The Business Times in weekend interviews.

"The outlook for the Asia-Pacific region remains robust - and globally the strongest - and recent data point to a pickup in momentum," Changyong Rhee, director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told BT.

Meanwhile, portfolio investment flows into Asia reached an unexpectedly high level of "almost US$58 bi…