Most Asia-Pacific finance ministers failed to capitalise on the global economic upswing to instigate meaningful structural reform in 2017 ahead of an inevitable rise in interest rates.
Instead, finance ministers continued to luxuriate in record-low interest rates to maintain towering government debts and persistent budget deficits.
Refinancing past excesses will become more expensive as bond yields rise. As an indicator of the size of the problem, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD expects the sovereign debt of its members to swell to around $45 trillion in 2018, up from $25 trillion in 2008.
In view of that, FinanceAsia’s...
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