As many as 12 of the 18 countries in the region posted growth rates at least as high as in 2006 (see table LI). In addition to the expansion of the world economy and abundant liquidity on international markets, the rapid industrialization process unfolding in several Asian developing countries, particularly China and India, generated greater demand which boosted the region’s export volumes and improved its terms of trade (ECLAC, 2008b). The rise in international food and energy prices that gathered pace in that year fuelled inflationary forces and, although the process weakened as from the second half of 2008, it was partly counteracted by the devaluation of a number of local currencies.