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.