SE Asian currencies outperform in ‘06

In the year-to-date, the respective currencies of Southeast Asia have been among the strongest in the world. The Indonesian Rupiah and the Thai Baht have appreciated 8% and 5%, respectively, in less than three months. While the politics in these countries has been unstable at best, their economies have served as models for other developing nations to emulate.In addition, the region’s governments have reined in spending and loosened monetary policy, moves which have attracted foreign investment. However, these same government s are now taking steps to prevent their currencies from rising further. The Economist reports:

The Philippines' central bank says that the peso floats freely and it will intervene only to smooth volatility. However, Thailand's and Malaysia's central banks have been buying dollars to slow the rises in the baht and ringgit.

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