IMF does not see Asia decoupling from world economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Asia cannot decouple from the global economy despite signs that it is emerging from the worldwide slump even faster than many economists had expected, an International Monetary Fund official said on Wednesday.

Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said strong growth particularly out of China and India had rekindled hopes that the region could decouple from the slower-growing world economy and recover on its own.

"We do not believe that this will be the case," he said at a news conference. "The links between Asia and the rest of the world economy are too strong, and a full recovery in Asia will require a full recovery from the world as a whole."

(Reporting by Emily Kaiser and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)