Pacific Exchange Blog
Will Internet-Only Banks Be A Game Changer for Taiwan?
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission recently approved three licenses for internet-only banks, the first time new banking licenses have been issued since the 1990s. This blog explores potential ramifications associated with the decision. Internet-only banks are well positioned to bring two important potential benefits: expanded access to credit and banking sector innovation. Nonetheless, their entrance will likely bring even more competition in Taiwan’s already saturated banking market.
Implications of Asia’s Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion
Across the world, women face a variety of hurdles to reaching their full economic potential. Challenges associated with educational and financial access, structural economic factors, and culture can all pose impediments to women’s economic participation. This blog reviews women’s access to the financial services as well as the decision-making that enable them to prosper in economic terms.
Can Korea Move Beyond Government-Backed Small Business Lending?
Korea has some of the most supportive policies for startups and small businesses, including an abundant supply of government-backed loans, due to their role as an employment engine. Support for small businesses is poised to remain strong as the country undergoes a strategic shift toward inclusive and innovation led growth. However, critics point to data suggesting government programs enable poor performance among companies. In response, policymakers have introduced measures to diversify financing, increase the role of capital markets, and improve productivity.
India’s Non-banks Emerge from the Shadows
Discussion of shadow banking in Asia is often dominated by developments in China, but India’s non-banking financial companies are gaining increasing attention as among the fastest growing in the world. Meanwhile, the bankruptcy of a large Indian NBFC in 2018 has put the sector under media scrutiny. Despite increasing risks to growth, India’s NBFC sector is still on track to expand at a rapid pace as it plays an important role in the financial system.
Gender View: Female Entrepreneurship in Asia
An estimated 163 million female entrepreneurs across the globe are running their own business. While economies in Asia have relatively high levels of gender parity compared to other regions, women’s entrepreneurial participation still lags behind men. The local business ecosystem, cultural perceptions, and women’s advancement opportunities all play a role in encouraging women’s entrepreneurial pursuits.
Falling Female Labor Force Participation in China and India
In most countries, women’s participation in the labor force has steadily improved over the past several decades. However, in the world’s two most populous economies—China and India—female labor force participation rates have been declining. This blog takes a close look at factors underlying this development, the potential impacts on economic performance, and public policy options that can help slow or reverse the trend.
Why Do Japanese Households Hold So Much Cash?
Japanese households are well known for their preference for cash, which represents the majority of their financial assets. While Japan’s economic and financial history explain part of this behavior, broader structural and cultural factors are also at play.
A Q&A Session by the Asia Program on Quora
The Country Analysis Unit (CAU) hosted a Quora session on Financial and Economic Development in late 2018. Quora users posed a variety of questions to the CAU team and then voted for those they most wanted to see answered. We have summarized and linked to a number of the most popular questions and answers in this blog.
India’s Aadhaar Challenge: Balancing Data Rights, Financial Inclusion, and Innovation
India’s adoption of unique biometric identities, known as Aadhaar, has catalyzed inclusion and innovation in financial services. However, Aadhaar has always raised concerns over the appropriate use of digital IDs in the broader social fabric. With India’s Supreme Court recently restricting Aadhaar’s use, its role is now in question. Financial market participants will have to adjust to shifts in rules as they balance emerging data rights with gains in inclusion and innovation.
Views into Asia’s Foreign Indebtedness (Part Two)
External imbalances are one factor that can compound a country’s ability to manage its foreign debts. Across Asia, current account surpluses and large stocks of foreign exchange reserves strengthen many countries’ ability to manage their external liabilities. Though several Asian economies face current account deficits or low reserve coverage, they continue to appear more resilient compared to the situations in Argentina and Turkey.
Views into Asia’s Foreign Indebtedness (Part One)
Recent developments in Argentina and Turkey have sparked concerns that other emerging market economies could be sitting on simmering vulnerabilities. A direct comparison of the region’s foreign debt finds that overall risk and apparent vulnerabilities are more contained in Asia relative to Argentina and Turkey. However, there are certain exposures in a handful of Asian economies that warrant close monitoring going forward.
Asia’s Open Banking Push
Countries around Asia are implementing laws and regulations to promote open banking to share data and enable third parties to provide products and services around a centralized platform. A move to open banking reflects the increasing digitization of Asia’s economy and the rise of technology platforms that envision a consolidated financial life for their customers. The impacts could be dramatic, increasing competition and promoting efficiency, integration, and inclusion, while also creating new risks.
Asia’s Emerging Virtual Banks
Several Asian regulators are amending existing rules to allow technology firms to own and run virtual banks, which will likely result in a number of new digital lenders. This has triggered debate and discussion about licensing requirements, risk management, and consumer protection.
Can Asia’s Fintech Giants Reduce Remittance Costs?
As they transform the payment systems in countries like China and India, Asia’s fintech giants are now setting their sights on cross-border remittances. Will the new entrants drive costs down in a region dependent on payments sent home by overseas workers? A number of traditional financial institutions and non-bank start-ups are already trying to solve the problem, which could help promote equitable, inclusive growth in developing Asia.
China Tightens Bad Loan Recognition Rules
China’s recent decision to tighten bad loan recognition standards is an important and necessary step to repair small lenders’ balance sheets. The decision also means there will likely be significant recapitalization needs among lenders down the road, in addition to expectations for slower bank loan growth.
Testing Time for Emerging Market Resilience
Indonesia’s economic fundamentals have improved considerably since the “taper tantrum”, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ratings agencies sanguine about its performance. But as global financial conditions tightened this year, volatility seems to be on the rise again putting the resilience of emerging markets to the test.
Asia Prepares for New Bail-in Bonds
A decade removed from the global financial crisis, the world’s most systemically important banks are preparing to meet new rules on total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) by 2019. New TLAC-eligible debt securities, popularly known as “bail-in” bonds, have emerged post-2008 as part of efforts to minimize the need for taxpayer bailouts in future crises. In Asia, banks in Japan and China will face tailored versions of these requirements based on the unique features of each country’s banking system. Below, we examine the state of TLAC in Asia.
Why Are Foreigners Holding More Onshore Chinese Securities?
Foreign holding of onshore Chinese securities is expanding rapidly from a small base. Over the past year, overseas investment in Chinese A-share stocks has gained momentum after the MSCI decided to add Chinese A-shares to the MSCI index family. This development will enhance the already growing interconnectedness between Chinese capital markets and the rest of the world.
Asia’s Aging Workforce May Boost Its Markets
The demographics of aging have long been studied as a key driver of investment behavior in capital markets, as changes in life stage alter investor preferences. Asia is home to countries with a diverse range of demographic profiles, with several rapidly aging countries like Japan, Korea, and China, and younger populations in India and Indonesia. Building upon other research into the relationship between demographics and capital markets, this post considers how aging may impact the region.
China Bond Market: Slower Growth but Better Product and Investor Mix
Domestic bond issuance in China declined in 2017. Growth in outstanding onshore bonds and trading volume also moderated. Notwithstanding the lackluster performance, the products offered by the Chinese bond market continued to grow in sophistication. The investor base has also become more diversified as overseas investors and non-bank domestic investors play a bigger role. These developments will likely contribute to the resilience of the bond market in the long run.
India’s Digital Payments: Growing Consumer Trust, but Merchants Needed
More than a year after the shock of demonetization, Indian consumers continue to adopt digital payments as an alternative to cash. Though overall transaction volumes remain small relative to cash, the growth of mobile payment products indicates growing trust. Recent successes in promoting new products could also point the way to greater merchant adoption, providing insight for India and a number of other countries transitioning to new payment technologies.
Asian Banks Search for Yield Overseas
Asian bank profitability has been squeezed in recent years, driven to some extent by intense competition among the large number of banks in the region. To boost profitability, banks from some developed Asian economies have expanded operations into Southeast Asia by setting up branches and investing in local institutions. What began as a search for yield is likely to persist because banks’ strategies to increase profits align with their governments’ initiatives in the region.
Regulating Initial Coin Offerings and Cryptocurrency Exchanges across Asia
Asian regulators clarified their stances on initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency exchanges this past year as public interest in both has skyrocketed. Some of the same qualities that attract investors to cryptocurrencies make them susceptible to money laundering and fraud. Regulators have acted to protect investors and their financial systems in steps ranging from banning ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges to implementing licensing requirements ensuring new currencies and products face the same scrutiny as existing ones.
China’s Household Credit Boom
China’s rapid credit growth has generated increasing concern over the past several years. Recent regulatory action and debt restructurings have slowed the pace of corporate debt build-up, but new risks are emerging as Chinese households lever up. On the whole, continued increase in household credit is aligned with China’s efforts to rebalance its economy towards consumption, but the fast growth of the sector warrants close monitoring.
Mapping Asia’s Biggest Overseas Investors
One of the striking trends in recent economic history is Asia’s growing importance in global investment flows. Over the past two decades, the region emerged as a large net creditor to the rest of the world. The net position, however, does not necessarily tell the entire story. A deeper examination of Asia’s overseas assets reveals the differences in how Asian economies invest abroad.
Digital Currencies May Take off in Japan
Not long ago, Japan was at the cutting edge of digital payments. Japanese consumers could make payments by phone as early as 2001, a decade earlier than in the United States. Despite this early lead in payment technology, visitors to Japan today often note the remarkable persistence of cash. In this context, Japanese banks are launching digital currencies, while changes to regulation in China have made Japan a hub for bitcoin trading. These trends could renew Japan’s role as a leader in payments innovation.
Emerging Asia’s Efforts to Deal with Increasing Debt
Asian economies have been borrowing more in recent years. Despite concerns that increased external and dollar-denominated debt leave Asia susceptible to destabilizing outflows, other economic and financial metrics depict a region more resilient than when it experienced the Asian Financial Crisis 20 years ago. Prudential policy and regulation have played an important role in improving the region’s financial resilience, though some efforts may run counter to the goal of developing deep local bond markets.
If You Build It, They Will Lend: Why Japan May Fund More Infrastructure than China
Demand for infrastructure is growing as developed countries replace deteriorating infrastructure and emerging economies invest in new projects. China has attracted significant attention through its One Belt, One Road initiative and the founding of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, but Japan has recently dominated global project finance. With low borrowing costs and limited domestic credit demand, Japanese banks may be best positioned to lead the financing of a global infrastructure push.
South Korea’s Efforts to Contain Debt and Housing Prices Take Shape
Earlier attempts to halt Korea’s dramatic increase in household debt missed the mark but recent regulations have succeeded in limiting credit growth and housing price increases. While household loan quality is performing well the earlier parallel rise in home prices and household debt have left lingering fears that the debt burden will be a drag on economic growth, and that a major fall in home prices could create asset quality issues for the country’s banks.
Tax Increase Forces Financial Services in India to Adjust
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) implemented this past June is the largest tax reform in India’s history. By creating a federal taxation system, the GST has major implications for the economy as whole and financial services in particular.
India’s Farm Loan Waiver Crisis
India’s annual economic growth exceeds 7% and the country just passed sweeping tax reforms. Despite this progress, it faces a growing crisis over farm lending. Farmers are demanding loan waivers that may cost up to 2.6% of GDP. They’ve captured headlines with their protests, destroying milk and agricultural produce, and taking even more extreme measures. Although India’s agricultural sector is in distress, loan waivers are a costly, temporary solution to complex problems and will likely further strain the country’s public sector banks, already stressed by asset quality problems.
Taiwanese Banks Venture South
Banks from Taiwan are expanding across the Asia-Pacific in a search for yield. The initiative has the potential to boost the financial position of Taiwanese banks, but overseas expansion also brings new risks and challenges.
China’s Recent Efforts to Deal with Stressed Loans
The pace of stress loan creation in China has slowed recently, partly reflecting efforts to dispose nonperforming loans and to restructure corporate debts. These programs aim at strengthening the banking sector, but will likely weigh on bank earnings and capital levels in the short run.
China’s A-Shares Join the MSCI Index
On June 20th, MSCI announced the inclusion of Chinese A-shares to its widely followed emerging markets index. MSCI’s decision to add China, albeit gradually and as a small proportion of the total index, represents a major breakthrough for China’s onshore stock markets.
Large Japanese Capital Flows Pose Risks to the Asia-Pacific
Japanese investors have long been known for their overseas investments. Following the 2013 onset of the Bank of Japan’s extraordinary monetary policy, the country’s pace of overseas investments has accelerated even further. While Japanese investors have been buying assets around the world, several Asia-Pacific countries have experienced particularly large capital inflows, exposing them to future changes in Japan’s economy and monetary policy. Among them, Thailand and Australia stand out as having high exposure to Japan.
China Looms Large in Global Green Bonds
Green bonds are a creative response to the challenge of financing environmental protection efforts. While the global green bond market has grown at a rapid pace, China has quickly emerged as the largest issuer of green bonds.
Demonetization Is Catalyzing Digital Payments Growth in India
Nearly six months after India’s momentous demonetization, the government continues to expand options for digital payments to reduce the economy’s dependence on cash. While old habits die hard, recent data show that new digital payment methods are building momentum. These innovations offer simple, universal tools that may help India leapfrog older technology to reach a less cash-intensive future.
China’s Growing Presence in Global Bond Indices
Despite the size and importance of China’s bond market, the country has had a limited presence in the major global bond indices. This is starting to change as several important bond indices have taken steps to add China following a series of reforms to the country’s domestic bond market.
Can Asia Overcome Challenges and Remain Resilient?
Despite sizable capital outflows in recent years, emerging Asia’s strong external position and solid economic performance will help the region weather headwinds and remain financially resilient.
Dim Sum Bonds Take a Dive
The development of an offshore bond market, colorfully referred to as dim sum bonds, is an important pillar of China’s strategy to make the renminbi a global currency. However, like other aspects of renminbi internationalization, the growth of the offshore bond market has been halting and uneven.
Auditing the Auditors in Asia
Even the best financial regulation can be undone by faulty or inaccurate financial reporting. Accounting regulatory regimes, which include auditor oversight, are critical in ensuring that the plumbing of the financial system works and ultimately the stability of the economy.
Connecting China’s Stock Markets to the World
Over the past several years, several small but important channels have opened to allow capital to flow between China and global capital markets. The newest of these is the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, which has the potential to serve as important financial gateway for both institutional and individual investors.
Korean Shipping Industry Sinks as Exports Lag
Korea’s Hanjin Shipping entered receivership in August 2016 after creditors refused it much-needed support. Hanjin is the most prominent casualty of the recent global shipping downturn. Yet, woes in the industry are not specific to Korea: three Japanese shippers have merged, and Taiwan announced a $1.9 billion bailout for its shipping industry since Hanjin’s episode. Korea and other export-oriented Asian economies will remain vulnerable to persistent shipping weakness as global trade and China’s slowdown persist.
India’s Demonetization: The Long Road to a Cashless Future
The chaotic aftermath of India’s recent demonetization shows how crucial cash remains to daily life in developing countries. The disruption also exposed the technological barriers to the transition to a less cash-dependent economy. As the Indian government announces further incentives for cashless payments, the demonetization shock may also jumpstart existing policy efforts to develop a more digital economy.
Chinese Banks are Writing Off More Loans and That is a Good Thing
In recent years, Chinese banks have become more aggressive in writing off their nonperforming loans as a way to address their asset quality issues. The acceleration in loan write-offs by Chinese banks was made possible by the relaxation of tax rules and is a step in the right direction for banking reform.
Why Asian Banks are Well Positioned for Basel III
A San Francisco Fed review indicates the Asia-Pacific’s 75 major banks are well positioned to meet Basel III minimum standards for implementation in 2019. The strong position of Asian banks can be attributed to the build-up of capital and liquidity buffers after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-8, as well as less reliance on leverage and hybrid capital instruments than their western counterparts. The end result is both higher levels and quality of capital.
Can Private Capital Transform Banking in China?
China’s banking system has historically been dominated by large government-owned banks. However, several recent trends are challenging that status quo. Private and privatized banks are beginning to play an important role in the financial system with the potential to improve financial inclusion and efficiency while raising new regulatory questions.
Can Fintech Fill Asia’s SME Lending Gap?
Perhaps no sector has more to gain from innovations in financial technology than small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance, especially in Asia. SMEs accounted for 42 percent of Asia’s GDP in 2014 yet received only 18.7 percent of bank lending according to the Asian Development Bank. Fintech can particularly leverage the rapid growth of Asia’s e-commerce and regional trade, trends that complement SME development.
The Growing Importance of China’s Money Market
China’s money market is growing rapidly and playing an increasingly important role in the financial system. It serves as both a key channel for monetary policy and as a source of funding for a variety of financial institutions. Recent data reveal that non-bank financial institutions have emerged as the largest borrowers, bringing along new risks to financial stability.
China’s Credit Growth: How Fast is Too Fast?
China now has one of the highest leverage ratios among emerging economies, with its corporate debt-to-GDP ratio greater than any other major economy. The debt overhang poses challenges to the country’s economic transition and financial stability, although a full blown banking crisis is unlikely.
Reducing Remittance Fees can Boost Asian Economies
Remittances exceeded $600 billion worldwide in 2015 with more than two-thirds going to developing countries. Developing Asia receives more remittances than any other region—roughly $200 billion—and in some countries remittances even exceed foreign direct investment inflows. Meanwhile, innovations in payment systems can reduce remittance fees dramatically, increasing the earnings sent back to migrants’ friends and families—and supporting economic growth in Asia.
Implementation of New Impairment Standards: IFRS 9’s Impact on Asia
Many Asian economies will soon implement IFRS 9. The new standard will fundamentally change how banks determine loan loss allowances. This significant change in methodology will likely require that many banks increase loan loss provisions, resulting in lower reported earnings.
(Re)Classifying Frontier Markets
Pakistan’s recent MSCI upgrade highlights one path for frontier financial market development. While stock index categorization may serve to legitimize a market and bestow prestige, it is not necessarily the best indicator for investor sentiment. Global investors consider a broad range of indicators in considering where to deploy their capital. For frontier and emerging markets conducting financial market reform, the challenge is more complex than an index upgrade might imply.
The Bumpy Road towards Renminbi Internationalization
A more volatile exchange rate and dampened growth expectations for the Chinese economy have halted, and in some cases led to reversals in, the renminbi’s path towards becoming an international currency.
Japanese Investors Go Abroad with Borrowed Foreign Currency
A half-year into the Bank of Japan’s experiment with negative interest rates, there are growing signs of unusual market activity in Japan, with yields on even long-term government debt going negative and ever-increasing overseas investment. Amid a breakdown in longstanding financial relationships that previously allowed international investors to hedge currency risk cost effectively, Japanese investors are increasingly funding their overseas portfolios with foreign currency debt to minimize foreign exchange risk.
Fixing Taiwan’s Crowded Banking Sector
Taiwan has a large number of banks relative to the size of the domestic market, leading to unhealthy types of competition and low levels of profitability. Authorities are trying to solve the problem by promoting bank mergers and international expansion.
China’s Bond Market: Larger, More Open, and Riskier
China’s bond market has grown rapidly in recent years and it is becoming more open to foreign investors. At the same time, an increasing number of bond defaults indicate that the bond market is becoming riskier.
How Does China’s Slowdown Impact the United States?
How big a concern is China’s slowdown for the U.S. economy? This blog reviews financial and trade linkages between the two countries to explore possible transmission channels. At least for now, the overall direct impact appears to be limited, although U.S. exposure to China is growing.
How Modernizing India’s Payment System can Drive Financial Inclusion
India’s heavy reliance on cash has wasted resources and limited financial inclusion, leaving nearly half the population without a bank account. In response to this problem, the government has introduced policies to promote non-cash payments, provide hundreds of millions of new payment-capable accounts to the unbanked, and encourage new technology and innovation throughout the banking sector. The combined effect of these efforts could have a major impact on economic welfare and financial inclusion in the coming years.
The Global Impact of Chinese and Japanese Economic Growth
Thirty years ago, Japan was growing so quickly that some predicted it would overtake the United States, while China’s economy was small and closed. Much has changed. China has overtaken Japan as the world’s second largest economy, but as China shifts to a “new normal” of lower growth, observers are increasingly concerned that it may no longer serve as the world’s economic engine. Meanwhile, proactive Japanese economic policy has renewed interest in Japan’s prospects.
Korea’s Shipbuilders and Lenders Navigate an Oil Storm
Persistent overcapacity, high inventories, a strong U.S. dollar, and global economic uncertainties have had a substantial impact on oil prices. In response, oil companies have slashed capital expenditures, leading to significant losses at South Korean shipbuilders exposed to oil rig construction. In anticipation of further losses on their shipbuilder exposure, Korean banks have been increasing their loan loss provisions to shore up their allowances and are reporting a considerable impact on earnings.
What’s Behind the Slowdown in Asian Cross-Border Lending?
The growth of cross-border lending in Asia has slowed abruptly. Faced with a growing debt burden, Asian borrowers are reducing their exposure to foreign debt. This trend is driven by the appreciation of the dollar versus many Asian currencies.
A Regional Comparison of China’s New Deposit Insurance System
With the introduction of deposit insurance in China last year, all the large Asian economies have adopted deposit insurance programs. While China’s deposit insurance shares many similar objectives and design features of other deposit insurance programs in Asia, the specifics of China’s plan differ in many aspects.
The Bank of Japan Goes Negative: What Does That Mean?
The Bank of Japan surprised markets last month by implementing a negative interest rate policy as part of its continued fight against deflation. Negative rates turn the traditional rules of finance on their head and may confuse some market participants. Though ordinary borrowers and savers are unlikely to see negative interest rates at this stage, the new regime will impact the Japanese banking system and possibly the country’s international financial linkages.
China’s Shifting Policy Anchors
Market participants are anxious to find new policy anchors as China moves towards a “New Normal.” But China’s growth and policy direction are likely to be less predictable in the future, a fact that market participants will have to learn to accept.
What is Asia’s Most Systemically Important Bank?
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently updated its list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), adding China Construction Bank as the seventh Asian G-SIB. Including Standard Chartered, a U.K. incorporated bank with a majority of assets in Asia, more than a quarter of G-SIBs now operate primarily in Asia.
CIPS and the International Role of the Renminbi
The creation of CIPS is an important milestone on the renminbi’s road to becoming a major global currency. It has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of cross-border payment transactions and increase liquidity in the offshore market.
Asia is the New Engine of Growth in the Shadow Banking System
Monitoring and controlling risks in the shadow banking system is one of the most important tasks facing financial regulators around the world. Asia has recently emerged as the largest source of growth for the global shadow banking system.
Not All NPLs Are Created Equal
Credit quality is a key aspect of an institution’s overall soundness. Arguably the most widely used measure for gauging the quality of an institution’s loan portfolio is the reported nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio. However, not all countries use the same definition and therefore NPL ratios are not necessarily comparable across borders.
The ABCs of ASEAN’s Economic and Banking Integration
In 2007, the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted the goal to achieve economic integration by creating an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by year end 2015. The AEC aims to shift ASEAN from ten fragmented economies to a single market of goods, services, and investment together with freer movement of skilled labor and capital.
After the Fall: The Path Forward for China’s Stock Market and Economy
On October 20, 2015 at its Los Angeles branch, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco hosted an Asia Financial Forum entitled After the Fall: The Path Forward for China’s Stock Market and Economy. The event featured Andy Rothman, who spent 20 years in China first as a diplomat and then as an investment strategist.
Banking on China through Currency Swap Agreements
As China establishes itself as the world’s second largest economy and top trading nation, its currency, the renminbi (RMB), is also gaining popularity around the world. According to the People’s Bank of China’s 2015 Renminbi Internationalization Report, the RMB was the world’s 5th most used payment currency, the 2nd most used trade finance currency, and the 6th most traded currency in 2014.
Capital Flows Go into Reverse in Asia’s Financial Hubs
While much of the world has seen a retrenchment in international lending following the financial crisis, Asian banks have dramatically increased their international exposure. Even more striking is that in Asia’s financial centers, Singapore and Hong Kong, the increase in international activity has been accompanied by a change in direction of capital flows. Both economies have now become large net lenders to emerging Asia, a change that reflects larger underlying trends in the region.
Developing Local Currency Bond Markets Can Help Insulate Asia from Volatility
Many Asian borrowers increased their dollar-denominated debt in recent years amid the extraordinarily low rate environment. Recent volatility has been characterized by capital outflows from Asian economies where such debt accumulated. While emerging Asia remains vulnerable to further capital flight with a majority of external debt in foreign currency, its bond issuances are largely in local currency. Further deepening of bond markets combined with increased local currency debt can insulate emerging Asia from further volatility.
The Speed and Trajectory of Household Debt in South Korea
Similar to many countries in Asia, Korea’s household debt increased considerably after the global financial crisis. As of year-end 2014, household debt as a percentage of GDP was 76% and increased 15 percentage points since 2008. Concerns have risen as the growth rate of household debt has exceeded that of income and the broader economy for a prolonged period.
China Sets the Rules for Internet Finance
Internet finance in China is growing rapidly and has the potential to significantly alter the structure of the financial system. New firms, many of which are private, are entering China’s mostly state-controlled financial system and offering innovative products and services.
Why We Shouldn’t Invoke Japan’s “Lost Decade” as China’s Future
China’s transition to a new period of slower growth naturally draws comparison to other countries’ historical development. Given its recent experience with rapid credit expansion, build-up in real estate, and stock market volatility, some observers wonder whether China faces a “lost decade” like the one Japan experienced in the 1990s. This comparison is inappropriate, however, and contributes to a misunderstanding of the challenges China does face and a misremembering those Japan encountered a generation earlier.
China’s New Normal Is in the Making
“China’s economy has entered a state of new normal – the gear of growth is shifting from high speed to medium-to-high speed,” said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. Indeed, after two decades of double-digit growth, the Chinese economy is shifting into a lower gear. According to official statistics released earlier this month, the economy expanded at 7 percent in real terms in the second quarter of 2015.
Firing the Fourth Arrow: The Private Sector and the Future of Japan
On June 15, 2015, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco hosted an Asia Financial Forum entitled Firing the Fourth Arrow: The Private Sector and the Future of Japan. The event featured a panel of Japan experts, including Michael Chui, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute, Tasuku Kuwabara, Principal, McKinsey & Company, and moderator Sean Creehan, Japan Analyst in the Country Analysis Unit at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Asian Banks Go Global
One of the most striking trends following the global financial crisis has been the slowdown and retrenchment of cross-border lending. Due to financial distress, many large global banks, particularly those from Europe, had to reduce their international exposure and pull back funding to their home markets.
Financial Sector Assessment Program: A “Report Card” for Bank Supervision in Asia
One of the functions of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is to issue a “report card” for an economy’s compliance with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCP). Since the FSAP’s inception in 1999, many economies have undergone the assessment which is conducted jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Asia’s Corporate Debt Poses Risks as Dollar Climbs
Companies across emerging markets issued a record $276 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in 2014 as they took advantage of low U.S. interest rates, and Asian corporates were no exception. Combined with the strengthening dollar, high levels of dollar-denominated debt increase risks to Asian banking asset quality, particularly when borrowers leave foreign exchange risk unhedged. Asia has made substantial progress building financial system resilience and foreign exchange reserves over the past two decades, but external debt still poses risks for many countries including India, Indonesia, and even China.
How Transparent are Asian Sovereign Wealth Funds?
Sovereign wealth funds are special-purpose investment funds owned by a national government. Over the past decade, these funds have grown rapidly and now play an important role in the global financial system. This was particularly evident during the global financial crisis, when investment decisions by these funds had a large impact on global financial markets. The newfound prominence of sovereign wealth funds has led to calls for greater transparency and accountability and the establishment of best practice guidelines.
Welcome to Pacific Exchange
We are pleased to announce the launch of Pacific Exchange, a new blog from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco focused on financial and banking developments in Asia. Written by the analysts of our Country Analysis Unit, Pacific Exchange will provide timely analysis on the most important trends in the Asia Pacific in a format accessible to a broad audience.