Asia needs to start raising interest rates to prevent inflation from accelerating and avert the formation of asset bubbles as the region’s economies recover from the global crisis, the Asian Development Bank said.

The region will probably expand 7.5% in 2010 after growing 5.2% in 2009, which was the slowest pace in eight years, the Manila-based lender said in its Asian Development Outlook report today. The 45 economies of developing Asia may grow 7.3% next year, the ADB predicts.

bloomberg.com