TOKYO -- Economists have upgraded growth forecasts for major Southeast Asian countries in 2022, driven by election-related spending in the Philippines and the reopening of Thailand's tourism industry.
But the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow on full-fledged economic expansion, weighing on Malaysia's growth forecast. Prospects of interest rate hikes in the U.S. and rising inflation can also destabilize the path to recovery in Indonesia and India, economists say.
