Robert Subbaraman Quotations

Policy makers need to shift their focus from stimulating growth to guarding against economic excesses and inflation.

Low inflation buys the Bank of Korea some time before the next rate hike.

It is likely that the investment-to-GDP ratio for 2004 will be revised down closer to 40 percent.

Most of the Asian countries' recoveries have been more v-shaped than we first thought.

We'll be watching the oil price and the currency, which would be the two biggest risks. But Korea proves to be remarkably resilient so far to oil and the stronger currency.

The only real news was that the Korea government is going to inject some money into some of the banks.

There is a lot of inequality in terms of urban workers being a lot richer than rural workers and the coastal regions a lot richer than the western regions, so there is a challenge of trying to find jobs for the people moving to the cities.

There is always pressure and challenges for an economy as big as China's that is changing so rapidly, becoming more market-based and reforming in so many ways.

In Japan's case, consumer demand has not been that strong for a long time so companies haven't had that much pricing power. In China, consumer demand is reasonably strong but there is very aggressive competition.

If oil stays at $70 or goes higher I would have to consider whether my growth forecasts are too high.

The Bank of Korea has been doing well guarding against inflationary pressures. The Korean economy is having a good recovery and the shift of focus is really to guard against overheating.

Taiwan's economy has strong fundamentals and is currently enjoying a cyclical upswing. We have a positive outlook for the economy (after the election), forecasting 7 percent growth for the year, and 6.5 percent in 2001.

The Korean economy could be starting to fire. Now the domestic and foreign sides are going quite strongly.

The environment is ripe for capital expenditure recovery. The Korean economic recovery is broadening out.

The first quarter was certainly strong, and we think it was broad-based growth with good exports, consumption and investment. Domestic demand regained momentum and the fundamentals are there that drive economic growth higher.

It's not a popular job to be the person to take the punchbowl away from the party. But you don't want to get too much exuberance.

The details of the revisions also suggest that growth is on a more sustainable footing.