Why EMs are under threat from euro crisis

EMERGING MARKETS

With the eurozone crisis intensifying, emerging markets remain highly vulnerable to contagion, writes Brian Coulton, emerging markets specialist at Legal & General Investments.

The early days of the eurozone crisis saw an unhealthy dose of ‘Schadenfreude’ from the emerging market world at times. Emerging market policy makers, investors and commentators alike were only too keen to highlight the superior growth prospects, stronger fiscal positions and larger foreign exchange reserve stockpiles compared to their ‘developed’ market peers. The speed with which most of emerging Asia, Brazil, Poland, Turkey and others bounced back from the global financial crisis pointed to a new found ‘safe haven’ status, underpinned by improving sovereign rating trends and seemingly...