Euro zone development not a major factor affecting Asia Pacific growth: S&P

Says India's growth will be impacted if demand for gold rises

Euro zone developments will not be a major factor affecting growth in the Asia Pacific, Standard & Poor's sovereign rating analyst Takahira Ogawa said on Friday.

"The region has not been a big contributor of growth and exports for East Asia or for Asia Pacific for many years already," Ogawa said in a webcast on Asia-Pacific 2015 sovereign rating trends.

On India, Ogawa said economic growth and external balance are likely to be impacted if domestic demand for gold rises following the easing of import curbs.

The Indian government scrapped its gold import rules linked to exports in November, taking comfort from a narrowing current account deficit which however has not yet pushed up the demand for the yellow metal sharply.

India's economic growth, which has been below 5% for two years, will not improve "significantly" despite the sharp decline in global oil prices, Ogawa said.

How the Indian government achieves better fiscal management could be more important as the fiscal deficit number alone would not give a true picture of the country's fiscal consolidation, Ogawa said. 

Another S&P analyst Kim Eng Tan said not many sovereign rating changes were expected in the Asia-Pacific region this year.