MANILA, November 26-- The growth of the economies of Southeast Asia in the second quarter of this year has confirmed the turnaround seen in those economies in the first quarter, the Second ASEAN Surveillance Report declared.

The report was drafted by the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and submitted to the ASEAN finance Minister by the forum of deputy finance ministers and central bank governors of the association.

The finance ministers met yesterday in Manila in preparation for the annual summit of ASEAN leaders in this city on Sunday. They examined the report as part of the surveillance process that the ministers had established last year in the wake of the financial crisis that hit the region in 1997.

The ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta manages the surveillance mechanism with the support of the Asian Development Bank. Through it, the ministers keep track of developments in the economies of the region, assess the measures that need to be undertaken, and encourage one another in strengthening their respective economies.

The surveillance report contains a summary of the developments in the economy of each ASEAN country, with most of the finance ministers briefing yesterday's meeting on the policies that their governments have been undertaking to make the recovery of their economics possible and to ensure that the recovery is sustained.

Part of the surveillance mechanism is the process in which ASEAN members learn from one another in undertaking the necessary economic and social reforms and the measures to ensure financial stability and sustained economic growth.

At the end of their meeting, the finance ministers declared their expectation that the regional economy would grow by two or three percent this year, a marked improvement over the contraction of seven percent last year. They projected that all ASEAN members would achieve positive growth rates of up to six percent in 1999.

The surveillance report attributes the economic recovery of ASEAN partly to the ASEAN countries' fiscal measures that leave stimulated demand.

The report also notes, that interest rates and inflation leave sharply dropped and ASEAN currencies have stabilized. It confirms that ASEAN exports leave started to pick up, with most countries expecting sti4onger export performances this year.

The strong demand in the United States has also helped, the report says, and so has the turnaround in the Japanese economy, which is now growing at one percent after last year's contraction of 2.8 percent. It adds that exports have been boosted by a cyclical upturn in the demand for and prices of electronic products.

The surveillance report urges that the high levels of public and external debt in some ASEAN countries be deals with and that consumer demand be further stimulated. It calls for the continued pursuit of bank and corporate re-structuring.

The report calls for measures to protect people who are hurt by the fast pace of economic change and for ensuring the continuing competitiveness of ASEAN in a globalized economy.