Q&A: Mobius on relationship between BRICs and frontier markets

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, examines the relationship between the EM giants and frontier markets.

What do you perceive as the macroeconomic situation in each country? The BRIC countries’ GDP growth rates have slowed, but apart from Brazil, the other three economies are still growing much, much faster than most developed countries. Investors are concerned that China’s growth rate has slowed to 7.7%, but when was the last time the US, Japan, Germany or the UK saw that pace of GDP growth? One should also keep in mind that as these countries grow rapidly, the base gets bigger and it is therefore much harder to maintain the double-digit growth rates seen previously. China is now a US...