(Photo by Pornprom Sattrabhaya)LONDON: Investors are punishing markets where policymakers haven’t done enough to stem deteriorating current-account balances, ballooning inflation and a run on their currencies. Central bankers came under pressure from politicians who wanted to keep interest rates low and sustain high deficits to please voters. Since the start of 2016, bond investors have put in $1.5 trillion into new debt issues by emerging-market governments and corporates. But after Treasury yields crossed the 3% mark in late April, something snapped in the relationship between emerging markets and global investors. Harvard professor Carmen Reinhart points to mounting debt loads, weakening terms of trade, rising global interest rates and stalling growth as reasons for concern.

Source: Bangkok Post May 17, 2018 09:00 UTC