East Asia’s emerging economies have suffered less than expected from higher oil prices and are expected to grow by an aggregate 6.6 per cent this year, the World Bank said on Thursday in its latest twice-yearly update on the region.

Overall growth in the economies surveyed – including China and South Korea, but excluding Japan – slowed modestly to 6.8 per cent last year from 7.5 per cent in 2004. The 2005 slowdown was most evident in north-east Asia and some middle-income south-east Asian economies, whereas growth accelerated in Indonesia and Vietnam and remained strong at 9.9 per cent in China.