China's growth rate may plunge to 9.9 per cent this year: ADB

New Delhi, July 23 : China's economic growth is likely to be 9.9 per cent this year and 9.7 per cent in 2009 due to a global economic slowdown, volatile financial markets and a sharp rise in food and energy prices, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.

According to the China Daily, the worse-than-expected US economy has fuelled global worries that the global economic slowdown may continue following revelations that government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in serious trouble. This will have an impact on the Chinese economy.

"The US economy is gloomier than people expected and it will take more time for it to recover," said Zhuang Jian, an economist from ADB in Beijing. ut, he said, even if China's economic growth slowed to 9.9 per cent this year, it would be a "fairly good" rate.

The July issue of the Asia Economic Monitor (AEM) reported that "the region's growth outlook is vulnerable to a higher-than-expected spike in inflation, protracted slowdown in the US and any further tremors in global financial markets."

The AEM report also stated that the region's policymakers were caught in the pincer grip of slowing growth and rising inflation, and that inflation will continue to pose a serious challenge to policymakers across the region, including China.

ANI