BloombergThe Thai baht was Asia’s best-performing currency last year, while this year’s winner looks to have been already decided: the Indonesian rupiah. If they are brave enough to execute the trades without hedging the currencies, investors stand to reap even greater rewards if the rupiah keeps rising. Indonesian President Joko Widodo last week said that rapid gains in the currency could hurt exports and undermine efforts to rein in the nation’s current-account deficit. ‘PHASE ONE’ DEALPart of the “phase one” trade deal signed last week in Washington includes commitments by both nations to avoid competitive currency devaluations. While the two-page currency chapter was met with skepticism, Gave said that the signals out of China are that it is content with a stronger currency.

Source: Taipei Times January 20, 2020 15:56 UTC