Masato Kanda: Events in Middle East have affected all sectors in Asia-Pacific region

Events in the Middle East have affected all sectors in the Asia-Pacific region, Masato Kanda, President of the Asian Development Bank, said at the ADB Insight event held within the framework of the 59th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors.

"This affects energy and all other sectors due to airfare costs and energy prices, which influence everything. As for agriculture, fertilizer prices have already increased by as much as 50%. Naturally, this will affect food prices. In the Asia-Pacific region, some countries are highly dependent on remittances from the Gulf states. For example, in Nepal they account for 25% of GDP, while in Pakistan they exceed 5%," Kanda noted.

According to him, this is truly a difficult situation and certainly affects the tourism sector.

"The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand - many of these countries are very beautiful, but dependent on tourists. And transport hubs in the Middle East, such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, are now under pressure. The situation is extremely difficult, probably partly due to our region's dependence on energy resources," the bank chief said.

Kanda emphasized that the financial market is also feeling the consequences.

"Stock prices have fallen by 3%, bond yields have increased by 28 basis points, and currencies have depreciated sharply, including the Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso. There has been a capital outflow of $28 billion from the region. So everything is very serious. There are many consequences," the president added.