The Development Of Local Debt Markets In Asia

The paper makes an assessment of the progress made in developing local debt markets in emerging Asia. Market development has been limited by hurdles confronting borrowers and lenders, current and potential liquidity providers, and insufficient support from government policies and regulations. Besides fostering a credit culture to deepen local debt markets, the issue of critical size can be addressed through an integrated regional market for local currency bonds that provides greater scale, efficiency, and access. With rapid economic growth in Asia, a key challenge is to generate financial assets that can provide the underlying collateral for expanding fixed-income markets, and hence domestic and regional investment opportunities.

Since the Asia and Tequila crises of the late 1990s, a growing number of emerging market countries have focused on developing local bond markets to lock in local currency, fixed-rate and long-term funding, and help governments and corporations better manage their financing risks. International organizations from Washington to Southeast Asia are pushing bond market development, to reduce global instability by improving domestic risk management. This book is part of the International Finance Corporation's efforts to assist countries in South Asia and other parts of the world to identify their need for local bond markets, the impediments to developing them, and how those impediments might be removed. The book is based on papers presented at the South Asian Debt Market Symposium held in Sri Lanka in October 1999. It provides valuable insights to emerging market nations wrestling with the issue of building local bond markets. This book will be of interest to bond market specialists, policymakers, and the private sector.

This volume comprises studies by leading research scholars in the United States and Asia on Asia’s debt capital markets. The book is unique in drawing upon the research, experience and perspectives of experts from the academic, legal, governmental and practical investment fields. They assess the risks and opportunities, and strategies for developing these markets. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing economics, finance and law.

The financial sectors in South Asia Region (SAR) are dominated by commercial banks, which account for the vast majority of the financial system's assets. The domestic debt markets including the government bond and corporate bond markets are at an early stage of development and there are few institutional investors. In recent years, countries in SAR have attempted to develop local debt markets, although the pace of development remains uneven and slow due to many regulatory and institutional impediments. With the notable exception of India, governments in SAR have yet to implement measures required for the proper development of the domestic bond markets. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the major bond markets in SAR (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) highlighting the areas which need further reforms. It is hoped that the book will contribute to our knowledge of bond markets in South Asian countries and create a broad based ownership of the recommendations made by the authors.

Local currency bond markets in ASEAN+3 play an important role in diversifying financial intermediary channels and mitigating the impacts of financial crises. They also have the potential to help mobilize developing Asia's significant savings to meet the region's enormous infrastructure investment needs. Drawing extensively on knowledge generated by the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum, the publication looks at the essential building blocks and the enabling environment for these markets, as well as the roles of government, relevant authorities, and market participants.

Following the Asian financial crisis, the development of local currency bond markets in each of the APEC economies as well as regional bond markets has received the highest priority among financial market policy-makers. Bond markets are considered as an alternative vehicle for domestic savings mobilization and also as a critical means of mitigating the dual mismatch problems of currency and maturity. However, tangible achievements have yet to materialize. The appeal of Asian bonds as evidenced by cross-border investments is dismally insignificant. Given the limited level of market activities associated with foreign investment in Asian bonds and with the supply of local currency or foreign currency denominated bonds issued by foreign borrowers in Asia, this study is designed to identify the types of impediments to cross-border investment in Asian bonds and to propose policy recommendations.

This comprehensive book provides detailed descriptions and analysis of the bond markets in eight East Asian developing economies: Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Drawing on the most recent data available, Emery assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each countrys bond market, concluding with comparisons of the eight countries bond markets. The book will be an invaluable reference for economists, policymakers, and all those interested in emerging capital markets. }Drawing on the most recent data available, this comprehensive book provides detailed descriptions and analysis of the bond markets in eight East Asian developing economies: Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Robert Emery devotes a full chapter to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each countrys bond market. For each country, Emery describes the history of the bond market and identifies its key participants, the different types of bonds, and the current terms for bond issues. He also discusses the size of the bond market, the bond issuing process, trading procedures and the structure of the market, the clearing and settlement system, and fees and taxes. Finally, he lists the regulators of the market, current regulations, and bond rating agencies; assesses the markets past performance; and offers suggestions for improvement.Each country chapter is organized into a standard format, making it easy for the reader to locate and compare specific information. Emery concludes the book with cross-country comparisons of the eight countries bond markets. It will be an invaluable reference for economists, policymakers, and all those interested in emerging capital markets. }

Provides a detailed survey of a largely unexplored territory - the bond markets in the Dynamic Asian Economies of Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.