Beijing, July 02: China's economy is poised to grow at an impressive rate of eight per cent this year despite being counted among the worst-hit SARS nation. "The negative impact of SARS on the country's economy will not exceed one percentage point in growth of GDP," a forecast released by economists here said.
However, the economists placed the GDP growth for the year at eight per cent as compared to earlier figures of 8.6 per cent. The report said that the influence of SARS on China's social and economic development is minor than the impact of the Asian financial crisis of 1997.
It's influence will be easier to overcome compared to the financial crisis encountered after terror attack on United States on September 11, 2001. According to the report, China's capital investment in fixed assets is expected to grow 14.5 per cent this year, higher than the average growth rate since 1996. The per capita disposable income of China's urban residents and rural population is expected to increase by 7.9 and 3.7 per cents respectively.
The volume of retail sales in 2003 will rise by 10.4 per cent, and the consumer price index (CPI) is expected to grow 0.3 per cent, the report said.
The state's fiscal revenue in 2003 will hit 15.8 per cent and the export growth will top 14.1 per cent. The total volume of exports will exceed that of imports by 10 billion US dollars. Bureau Report