Asian central banks face little impact from US, Europe banking crisis

CENTRAL banks in Asia are unlikely to be greatly influenced by the banking crisis in the United States and Europe – but could feel less pressure to tighten policy if the United States Federal Reserve itself holds off on further rate hikes amid the fallout, said private-sector economists.

On Mar 10, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) became the largest US bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis, after a plan to raise capital and shore up its balance sheet led to a run on the bank.

Separately, over the weekend, UBS agreed to buy ailing rival Credit Suisse for three billion Swiss francs (S$4.3 billion), in an emergency deal orchestrated by Swiss regulators to stem financial market panic.