U.S. dollar to stay weak: World Bank Asia economist

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar may remain weak for a while, and this weakness should prop up U.S. growth as well as help adjust global trade imbalances, a World Bank economist said on Thursday.

"The dollar may remain weak," Milan Brahmbhatt, Asian regional economist at the World Bank, told reporters.

"U.S. exports are strong and imports weak and this is being helped by the dollar's weakness."

Brahmbhatt said the flip side of this dollar weakness did mean other economies would see their currencies appreciate against the dollar.

"Those appreciating currencies are part of the adjustment process of global imbalances," he said.

The dollar has fallen about 7 percent against the currencies of its main trading partners .DXY in the past three months.

The World Bank released its semi-annual outlook for East Asia on Thursday.

(Reporting by Vidya Ranganathan, editing by Jacqueline Wong)