Asia's economy is expected to continue to grow steadily throughout 2014 and 2015, but according to the Asia Development Bank (ADB), more attention needs to be paid to the region's widening gap between rich and poor.
In its outlook for 2014, the ADB is projecting growth in Asia to rise from 6.1% in 2013 to 6.2% in 2014 and 6.4% in 2015.
The fast pace of economic growth seen in the region over the past several decades has raised incomes overall and has reduced poverty, said Yuen Pau Woo, president and chief executive officer of the Asia Pacific Foundation.
"Asia has grown very rapidly in the last few decades, absolute poverty has declined sharply, but income inequality has risen at the same time," Woo said.
"People are on the whole getting richer, poverty is falling, but the gap between the rich and poor is widening."
In its outlook report, ADP says developing Asian countries spend less on education and health (12.5% of tax revenues) than do Latin American countries (15.2%) and well below Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (36.2%).
The bank calls for developing Asian countries to expand and strengthen their "comparatively limited fiscal resource base" and to include policies to address social equity in their spending decisions.
