Japanese Yen's Rapid Plunge Harms Southeast Asia: Financial Analyst

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 27, 2001

Japanese Yen's Rapid Plunge Harms Southeast Asia: Financial Analyst

A local financial analyst working for a Singapore-based foreign bank has pointed out that recent Japanese yen's plunge against U.S. dollar will cause much harm to Southeast Asian economies which are struggling to tide over the current contagion of economic downturn.

Yen's rapid slide will have a serious impact on Southeast Asian nations because it is bringing greater currency and export pressure upon these economies, the analyst, who prefers to be anonymous, said during a telephone interview Thursday.

He said yen's depreciation will improve Japan's export but will inevitably reduce the export and currency capabilities and competitiveness of Southeast Asian economies, especially those whose development level is close to Japan and whose export products are of similar catalogue exported by Japan.

The Singapore dollar was forced to plunge to its lowest level against the greenback in more than 11 years after the greenback powered through 130 yen in thin Christmas Day trading and hit a three-year high of 131 yen in Asian trading Wednesday, he cited.

The analyst slams Japan for allowing yen's rapid slide and ignoring objections of concerns from Asian countries over the speed and severity of the yen's decline, elaborating that "Japan seeks to play a leading role in the region when its economy is in good gear, but it will take no notice of other's dead or alive while seeking its own interests."

"This is Japan's usual practice we have seen," he emphasized. Yen's decline to fresh three-year low has caused unease among Southeast Asian countries and quite a number of financial specialists from these countries have expressed their objection or concern over the speed and severity of yen's depreciation.

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