Asia's stunning accumulation of foreign exchange reserves stalled in the second quarter, with holdings rising just 0.2 percent to $2.160 trillion, the latest figures from central banks show.
Excluding China, Asian reserves rose just $4.0 billion in the second quarter. That is a massive slowdown from the first quarter when they rose by $210.7 billion.
The figures do not include China because it has not released its reserve holdings for April, May or June. The central bank is expected to release June quarter holdings later this month.
In the first three months of the year, China's reserves rose over $36 billion to $439.8 billion. China is the world's second-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves after Japan.
In the second quarter, reserves fell in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan.
Outside Japan, where reserves have risen by 21.5 percent since the end of 2003, Malaysia and India have recorded the biggest percent increases this year. But in June, Indian reserves fell slightly from May and Malaysian reserves were flat.
The June quarter pause comes after a sustained rise that prompted international criticism and worries that Asia's reserves could potentially destabilise financial markets.
In the 18 months to March 2004, Asian reserve holdings including China rose by $780 billion to $2.156 trillion - a rise of almost 57 percent.
The rapid accumulation largely reflected the region's determination to stem gains in currencies against a weakening US dollar and protect export competitiveness.
Comments
Comments are closed.