Hong Kong and Singapore At Risk of Higher Fed Rates

The wealthy economies of Singapore and Hong Kong are perhaps not the first that analysts associate with instability, but according to international research house Capital Economics, they’re the ones most likely to be burned by U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes.

Most analysts expect the Fed will raise interest rates in mid-2015 once it has finished winding down its tapering program. With their domestic interest rates tied to the Fed, Daniel Martin, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said Singapore and Hong Kong are particularly vulnerable to such moves.

“These countries are the only two countries that we cover that have the dual problems of rapid recent credit growth and a lack of exchange rate flexibility,” Martin told CNBC.

Singapore’s exchange rate is fixed to trade within a specified band, while the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the greenback.

According to Martin, because Singapore and Hong Kong’s exchange rates lack flexibility, their interest rates – which currently sit at 0.21 percent and 0.41 percent respectively – are at risk of spiking sharply in the event of a Fed funds rate hike, which could cause problems for overextended borrowers.
“Borrowers in these countries have been used to very low interest rates for years, and the rise in interest rates over the next few years could catch them by surprise,” added Martin.
Other economists agreed. Seng Wun Soon, regional economist at CIMB bank, said many Singapore households would be particularly vulnerable to Fed rate hikes, considering that 70 percent of housing loans are on floating rate plans.
However, he added that the broad strength of the Singaporean economy, including its healthy banking sector should help it withstand the transition.

via CNBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza