| Headline: Local Asian bond markets - The credit picking gets harder Source: Euromoney Date: February 2000 Author: Pauline Loong, Dominic Jones, Gill Baker Last year bond investors only had to pick the right country to make profits in Asia. This year the focus is on individual credits, and there are plenty to choose from. Investors need to do their homework. Governments and corporates are issuing fast and furiously. Corporates want an alternative to bank lending, over-reliance on which, they say, caused some of their past troubles. Governments are issuing even when they don't need the money, to create a domestic market and build up a curve. Pauline Loong reports on Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, Dominic Jones on Korea and Taiwan, Gill Baker on Thailand and Malaysia The Asian economies are making a rapid recovery. The financial markets are bouncing back and the bond markets enjoyed a boom year. But the prospects for 2000 are varied. Market players say that while total fee earnings are likely to be up with increased issuance - US investment bank JP Morgan expects gross government bond supply in the region to rise 20% to $135 billion this year - performance is likely to slip. |