The Asian Development Bank's chief economist said on Friday that if the Middle East conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz last only about a month, as some U.S. projections suggest, the impact on growth in developing Asia would be modest, with only a slight and temporary "downward blip" in annual GDP. "Most of the scenarios … suggest that the impacts will be, of course, negative, but relatively modest," ADB Chief Economist Albert Park told Reuters in an interview, adding that even under pessimistic assumptions, the shock would not reduce regional growth by a full percentage point.