GLOBAL manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in years last month and the second-best in two decades in the eurozone, driven by robust demand and bolstering the case for central banks to shift to tighter monetary policy.

A raft of mostly strong factory activity surveys released Friday comes after the European Central Bank announced in October it would cut monthly bond purchases starting in January. The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates again this month and the Bank of England raised them in November.

The Bank of Korea last week became Asia’s first major central bank to raise interest rates in three years, a potential turning point for the region. Malaysia and the Philippines are among those that may raise rates next year.

“Almost across the board, the purchasing managers’ indices were pretty good. The strength of the economies is going to give them (central banks) sufficient confidence to go ahead with their planned policy tightening,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief global economist at Capital Economics.

Eurozone factories had their busiest month for over 17 years in November. Forward-looking indicators suggest the momentum will continue to the end of 2017, capping off what is expected to be the best year for eurozone economic growth in a decade.

HIS Markit’s final manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for the bloc climbed to 60.1 last month from October’s 58.5. That was the second-highest in the survey’s 20-year history. Anything above 50 indicates growth.

Meanwhile, British factories enjoyed their best month in more than four years in November, suggesting manufacturing will boost the country’s sluggish economy going into 2018.

It added to signs manufacturing could be a bright spot next year, when the overall economy is likely to slow further as Britain approaches its departure from the European Union in March 2019.

“The manufacturing sector is a clear bright spot in the U.K. economy at the moment. But the larger service sector is still flagging and is why we don’t expect a sharp pickup in growth next year,” said James Smith, an economist at ING.

Signs of progress in Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union mean chances of a disorderly Brexit declined in the past month, a recent poll found, but growth will lag its peers next year.

In Asia, India saw economic growth rebound in the three months to September, in a sign businesses are recovering from disruptions caused by the introduction of a national sales tax and a ban on high-value banknotes.

South Korea’s factory activity expanded at the strongest pace in 55 months in November. Japanese manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in more than 3 1/2 years. (SD-Agencies)