Bond markets growing

The East Asian currency government bond is on the rising, with Thailand leading the way as having the strongest growth (Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and China following behind). It is due to the "need for deficit financing, strong investor appetite, and intensified reform efforts". Compared to dollar terms, the local currency government bonds grew by 32% compared to the average 27% growth during 1997-2003.

On the other hand, the local currency corporate bonds grew by 10% (in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand). Still, East Asian markets are only 1/3 of the OECD average as a percentage of GDP. Especially with the weakening US dollar, next year will turn out the same with high returns from local currency bond investments.

Basically, the economy of these particular countries are driven by exports, therefore with the weakened US dollar, there are higher revenues and investment.