Greek crisis will have no impact on Asia’s bonds, S&P
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Wednesday dismissed speculations the ongoing Greek crisis may hit Asia and said Asia's government-issued bonds appear to post positive growth from low debt levels and developing economies. It said Asia would perform better compared with its Western counterparts which are weakened by the debt default crisis in Greece.
William Hess, director of sovereign ratings for Asia told Bloomberg in Tashkent, Uzbekistan: "Investor interest in Asia will probably rebound and strengthen. The direct contagion risks seem to be quite low."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier pictured a rosy picture for Asia's economy and said that the region is outrunning other regions in recovering from the global financial crisis. The IMF said that China, Indonesia, South Korea and India all amassed record foreign-exchange reserves.
For its 2010 outlook, the IMF forecasted the economies in emerging Asia, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand to grow at least 8.5 percent this year and 8.4 percent in 2010.
However, many first world countries will expand by 2.3 percent this year and the euro region to grow 1 percent, the IMF said.
Hess said that Asia's growth and sovereign balance is much better compared to other regions. He added these could mean continued capital inflows into Asia and at the same time, pose lower risk.