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South-east Asia's currencies are plunging like its 1998

2015-08-18 10:32:29

The rupiah and ringgit plumb depths unseen since the Asian financial crisis

Aug 14th 2015 | SINGAPORE

This article was originally published in last week's print edition. However,

since Tuesday, many south-east Asia currencies, as well as China's, have fallen

sharply in value (see chart). Since this article is so relevant to the events

of the past week, we decided to republish it on the blog:

NOT since Bill Clinton was president and Barack Obama was a law professor with

a sideline in local politics have the beaches of Bali and Langkawi looked so

inviting to Americans. Four years ago, a dollar fetched just over 8,500

Indonesian rupiah, and just under three Malaysian ringgit. Today a dollar is

worth nearly 14,000 rupiah and almost four ringgit. Both currencies hit 17-year

lows this summer, and kept falling (see chart).

In one sense, Indonesia and Malaysia are far from unique: declining commodity

prices, the slowdown in China and the growing likelihood of an interest-rate

rise in America have combined to make 2015 a miserable year for emerging-market

currencies. Brazil and Russia are in recession, sending the real and the rouble

falling. Turkey, with its slowing economy, huge current-account deficit and

growing political instability, has seen the lira decline steeply; the Chilean,

Colombian and Mexican pesos have all drooped.

But in Asia the rupiah and ringgit lead the race downwards, having fallen by

8.4% and 9.8% against the dollar this year much further than the Thai baht

(6.4%) and the Philippine peso (2.2%). Their problems are exacerbated not just

by the Indonesian and Malaysian economies heavy dependence on commodities, but

also by political ructions in both countries.

Start with commodities. The halving of oil prices over the past year has harmed

Malaysia, which depends on oil for about 30% of its revenue. Indonesia is a net

importer of oil, but other commodities still comprise around 60% of its exports

a worry, given that The Economist s commodity index, which excludes oil, has

declined by almost 20% over the past year. Thailand and the Philippines, in

contrast, both have sizeable advanced manufacturing sectors: their top exports

are computers and electronic components.

China s slower growth and waning appetite for commodities have also been a drag

on Malaysia and Indonesia. China is the top destination for exports from the

Philippines too, but remittances from the millions of Filipinos working abroad

have helped prop up domestic demand, thus cushioning the blow of falling income

from exports.

Indonesia s current-account deficit and the big share of its government debt in

foreign hands will make it particularly susceptible to capital outflows in the

event of a rate rise in America. (Foreigners also own a lot of Malaysia s

debt.) Even more worrying, much Indonesian borrowing, both corporate and

sovereign, is dollar-denominated, meaning that as the rupiah falls the cost of

debt service rises.

In response to these woes, Indonesia has fallen back on protectionism, as

usual: in July it imposed import tariffs on a range of consumer goods,

including coffee, cars and condoms. Despite much talk from the president, Joko

Widodo, about upgrading his country s infrastructure, little has been done. He

came into office nearly a year ago with great promise, but some investors have

started to wonder whether he is up to the job of pushing through the reforms

his country desperately needs.

As for Malaysia, its foreign reserves look set to drop below $100 billion,

depriving it of a much-needed buffer, and suggesting the government may have

tried to prop up the ringgit. The woes of its prime minister, Najib Razak, who

for months has been trying to dispel allegations of corruption, may intensify

investors jitters.

The question now, for both countries, is how long the pain will last. Many

predict that commodity prices will rebound; fewer predict when. In the

meantime, depreciation should make their exports more competitive, but low

commodity prices seem to be offsetting that gain. Indonesia is growing at the

slowest pace since 2009. The falling currencies in both places are also stoking

inflation. Whenever the Fed gets around to raising rates, these ailments will

presumably worsen.