Exorcising the ghost of Asian financial crisis

Singapore

THE strength of the US dollar has created an illusion that Asian export numbers are weak, and Asian currencies are plunging - wrongly invoking the ghost of the Asian financial crisis as a result, a senior economist at DBS noted on Wednesday.

"Asia today looks nothing like Asia in 1997," said David Carbon, head of currency and economic research at the bank, at a media briefing. "We're not falling into an abyss. We're doing okay. It's just because we are measuring stuff the wrong way."