Goldman slashes growth forecasts for ‘Asian Tigers’

Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slashed growth forecasts for the “Asian Tigers” as their exposure to the world economy — once one of their greatest strengths — is now backfiring as global growth slows amid trade tensions.
“Besides their own domestic reforms, they all benefited enormously from the broader context of globalisation and the rapid economic development of the Asia-Pacific region,” Goldman economists led by Andrew Tilton wrote in a report. “However, the same characteristics that helped them benefit on the upside have left them relatively more exposed to the recent slowdown in global growth.”
Analysts dubbed Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan the “Asian Tigers” for their rapid, trade-driven growth in the 1980s and 1990s. While some economies could potentially benefit from trade diversion as suppliers move out of China, the windfall would most likely go to Southeast Asian countries that are connected by land routes to China — such as Vietnam — rather than to the tigers,
according to Goldman.