East Asia's local currency bond markets rebound

LOCAL currency bond markets in East Asia have bounced back from the bout of nerves they suffered earlier from tightening global liquidity, but remain vulnerable to further monetary tightening and other risks in the coming months, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday.

This rapidly growing market in Asia is helping the region overcome shortages of long-term bank finance and reducing the dangers of borrowing in non-local currencies, but is susceptible to external risks, the ADB indicated.

The head of its Office of Regional Economic Integration, Iwan J Azis, said in a statement that most emerging East Asia bond markets have regained their bounce, although Thai bonds could suffer a setback in investor perceptions following the coup d'etat there.…