The Economic Intelligence Unit - basing its optimism on the expectation of a buoyant US economy led by highly stimulatory fiscal and monetary policy, and a continued and sustained boom in China - is predicting world gross domestic product would climb a further 3.2% this year, up from 2.4% in 2003. Indeed, assuming that there are no new negative shocks, the prospects for the global economy in 2004 are broadly positive, with the possibility of acceleration in the growth rate in the second half of the year.

Consumer Confidence Back to Asia Pacific
The renewed economic optimism is driving the burgeoning of a modern retail and consumer sector.

With the exception of Indonesia and the Philippines whose population are facing an election year, all the other countries covered in MasterCard's latest (released on 15th January 2003) twice-yearly survey, which polled nearly 5,500 people in 13 cities across the region, displayed consumer confidence at levels not seen since before the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

MasterCard economic adviser for Asia-Pacific, Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, said, "This is a tremendous rebound". He added the rest of the year held a "robust and bullish outlook for Greater China", including Taiwan and Hong Kong.