Inflationary pressures could force east Asian central banks to tighten monetary policy “sooner rather than later” to choke off emerging asset bubbles, the World Bank warned yesterday.
The bank said concerns about asset price bubbles were being reinforced by a rapid increase in equity and house prices across the region, notably in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The bank said, however, that before raising interest rates, monetary policy was likely to be tightened by “removing some of the support for liquidity in domestic and foreign currencies . . . returning reserve requirements to pre-crisis levels . . . and scaling back the scope for collateral eligible for accessing central bank facilities”.