Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asia's developing economies may expand this year faster than earlier estimated, amid rising commodity prices and financial market turmoil, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said.

The Manila-based bank predicted in September that growth in Asia excluding Japan and Australia would be 8.3 percent this year and 8.2 percent in 2008.

``There may be some possibility that Asian economies will outperform our latest forecasts,'' Kuroda told reporters in Singapore after speaking at the Asean Business and Investment Summit.

Risks to growth include rising inflationary pressures because of surging oil and commodity prices, and further financial market turmoil, Kuroda said. The price of crude oil has risen 56 percent this year and reached $98.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Nov. 7, the highest since trading began in 1983.

The collapse of the subprime market in the U.S., where higher-risk borrowers got mortgages before home foreclosures rose to a record, spread to global lending markets and triggered about $45 billion in writedowns among the world's largest banks.

Still, Asia ``is registering stellar growth with the emerging Asean economies and the two Asian powerhouses of China and India,'' said Robert Yap, chairman of the Asean Business and Advisory Council in Singapore. Asean is the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

``Despite these risks, our main scenario for Asian economies is that growth will continue, this year and next,'' Kuroda said. ``Up until now, Asia has grown very rapidly despite very high levels of oil prices.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore sadam2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 17, 2007 04:14 EST