Credit crisis refocuses attention on Asia's export reliance

ON ASIA

Henderson's Andrew Beal says although domestic investment and consumption is growing in importance, the export market remains crucial.

Governments in Asia are reining in stimulus and curbing fiscal spending as growth is strong and concerns about inflation are rising. In the West, fiscal retrenchment is just beginning against a backdrop of still weak economies. The credit crisis refocused attention on the dangers of Asia’s export reliance; regional governments have subsequently committed to reducing this dominance. There is still a big export component to places such as China, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, which means they continue to be exposed to the vagaries of Western economies, but domestic investment and consumption...