Very low interest rates in major currencies have raised concerns over international credit flows to robustly growing economies in Asia. This paper examines three components of international credit and highlights several of the policy challenges that arise in constraining such credit. Our...

The growing heft of institutional investors and asset managers in several Asian economies hasfuelled expansion in outward portfolio investment, mainly in US dollar-denominated assets. Thisinvestment is predominantly in long-term instruments but is hedged for currency risk mainlythrough...

This feature argues that a combination of factors caused the surprising US dollar appreciation in the second half of 2008. Both the global flight to safety into US Treasury bills and the reversal of carry trades amidst the crisis were sources of dollar strength. In addition, the surge in dollar...