Developing Asia will expand 7.1 percent in 2013, compared with 2.4 percent growth in central and eastern Europe and 3.6 percent in Latin America, the International Monetary Fund estimated in January. Japan’s gross domestic product may rise 1.2 percent this year, according to the IMF.
“Asian bonds now offer a high-quality investment alternative that wasn’t available a decade ago,” Chia-liang Lian, Singapore-based head of investment management for Asia excluding Japan at Western Asset, said in Hong Kong yesterday. “Sustained flows into Asia and other emerging-market debt can co-exist with the upswing in general market sentiment.”