"In the six months since the previous East Asia and Pacific Economic Update , the regional economic landscape has been dominated by two key developments in the global economy. First, there has been a sustained decline in world oil prices. This is already exerting, and will likely continue to exert, a differential impact on the performance and prospects of countries, depending on whether they are fuel importers or exporters. Second, there has been a rapid dollar appreciation against the euro and the yen. Most regional currencies have depreciated to only a limited extent against the dollar, implying significant appreciations in real, trade-weighted terms. Growth in developing East Asia and Pacific moderated from 7.2 percent in 2013 to 6.9 percent in 2014, reflecting slowdowns in China and some ASEAN-4 economies. Nonetheless, the region still accounted for more than one-third of global growth, twice the combined contribution of all other developing regions. In China, growth decelerated by 0.3 percentage points, as attempts to contain credit growth and reduce overcapacity were partly offset by measures to avoid a sharp slowdown. In the rest of the region, growth fell by 0.6 percentage points. Within the ASEAN-4, growth dropped most sharply in Thailand, to 0.7 percent, as a result of prolonged political turmoil; the economy began to recover only in late 2014. Indonesia was affected by weakness in its terms of trade and commodity exports, and by the continued impact of policy tightening aimed at addressing external financing constraints. Growth remained generally robust in the region?s smaller economies, including Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Most countries continued to rebuild the fiscal buffers eroded by stimulus spending in the wake of the global financial crisis, but challenges remain. Fiscal balances broadly continued to improve, particularly in Malaysia and the Philippines. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam further rationalized fuel subsidies or raised fuel taxes. However, in Mongolia and to a lesser extent Lao PDR, both deficit and debt levels remain elevated; in Myanmar, a sizable deficit has emerged; in Vietnam, public debt continues to rise; and Malaysia?s public debt remains high..."