Most A-Pac economies to be buffered by healthy forex reserves

Most of the Asia-Pacific economies would be buffered by healthy foreign exchange reserves in the last quarter of the current calender year, global ratings agency, Standard & Poor, said in a report.

"Most Asia-Pacific economies will be buffered by healthy foreign exchange reserves in the fourth quarter of 2008," Standard & Poor's Asia Pacific's Chief Economist, Subir Gokarn, said in a report, 'Asia Pacific Economic Outlook: Fourth Quarter 2008'.

"The experience of 1997-1998 persuaded the region's (Asia) to build up large protected buffers against the Balance of Payments (BoP) shocks that had put them under so much of pressure in the late-1990s," Gokarn said.

Until a year ago, the build-up of reserves was being debated with reference to the potentially adverse consequences for domestic monetary stability, he said.

"But it is now evident that for almost all the region's economies those handy reserves have allowed countries to avoid a potential BoP meltdown, especially as the flow of capital has reversed so sharply in the past few months," the quarterly report said.

Of the emerging economies, Vietnam experienced the largest decline, almost 15 per cent less than the the peak, the report said, adding that among the developed economies, New Zealand saw a 25 per cent decline.

"This suggests that the capacity of these economies to absorb further BoPs shocks remains relatively good," it said.

The report also features individual macro-economic outlook for many rated sovereigns in the region including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Vietnam.