Asia’s strong economic recovery and better-than-expected euro zone growth should help the world dodge a double-dip recession, according to Irish central bank governor Patrick Honohan.
But governments will also need to focus on consolidating reserves after extensive spending on stimulus measures taken to tackle the financial crisis, he said.
Professor Honahan, who is also a member of the European Central Bank governing council, was speaking yesterday at an event jointly hosted by the Irish Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Banks in Singapore at Marina Mandarin hotel.
Looking back at the crisis, he said while there was a sharp downturn, the recovery was “surprisingly faster” in many parts of the world, especially in Asia.
“So to some extent we may not have learnt enough to avoid a downturn, but we definitely have learnt enough in terms of monetary and economic policy response to make sure the downturn was as short-lived as possible.”