THERE IS ALREADY a pan-Asian bond market but it is almost entirely US dollar denominated. It’s a relatively vibrant sector used by the international and regional multilaterals and other top-quality issuers. Virtually all the international borrowers with sizeable programmes have come to view Asia as an essential pool of capital for deep and efficient financing. Asian central banks hold more dollars in bonds than any other investor constituency. Meanwhile, Asian borrowers have sought to access European and US institutional investors but mainly using dollars, although euro issuance has picked up.
Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98 the dollar market has been the main focus but, recently, the potential from developing local-currency bond markets has sparked excitement. This theme was a focal point of the World Bank meetings in September. Speak to senior bankers at the large international banks about local markets
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