ADB: Local bonds show strength during turmoil

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Local currency bond markets in the emerging economies of East Asia have stood up well to the global credit crisis and can serve as an important source of funding for governments as they boost public spending to battle slowing economies, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday.

"Domestic borrowing is likely to increase as funding becomes harder to access on the foreign market,'' ADB official Jong-Wha Lee, said in a release accompanying the bank's Asia Bond Monitor report.