Economic growth in emerging East Asia will ease to 8.0 percent in 2008 from 8.5 percent in 2007, said a new report issued here Thursday by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The risks are tilted more to the downside than before on expectations of a sharper slowdown in the U.S. economy, further tightening of global credit, an abrupt adjustment in exchange rates and continued rise in oil and commodity prices, said the December issue of Asia Economic Monitor (AEM).

According to the report, economic growth in the Chinese mainland, the region's growth engine, will slow to 10.5 percent in 2008 from 11.4 percent in 2007 if government measures to cool the economy begin to take hold. Growth in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is expected to slightly moderate to 6.1 percent in 2008 from 6.3 percent in 2007.

The report said that even as growth slows in emerging East Asia, inflation is rearing its head in many economies and that price pressures are likely to remain in 2008.

"Slower growth but rising inflationary pressures despite appreciating currencies pose major challenges for the region's policymakers," said Jong-Wha Lee, head of ADB's Office or Regional Economic Integration.

The AEM is a semi-annual review of emerging East Asia's growth, financial vulnerability, and emerging policy issues. It covers the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, South Korea, and China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)