The State of the Nation: No systemic risk seen despite current economic headwinds
THE recent rout among Asian currencies has brought back memories of the Asian financial crisis (AFC) in 1997. The nightmares had given policymakers then sleepless nights, as the currencies were massively devalued, which led to aggressive rate hikes, a stream of defaults among corporates that were highly leveraged in foreign currency-denominated loans and the meltdown of asset prices.
The recent currency rout was made even more unnerving because, in May, Sri Lanka fell into an unprecedented economic collapse that has left the country in turmoil and unrest until today.
There is no doubt, then, that many would wonder whether the current economic headwinds seen could be an indication that economies in Asia might be heading that way once more.
OCBC Bank chief economist Selena Ling does...