Economists mindful of contagion effect from currency crisis

THE currency crisis engulfing a number of countries has the makings of a larger problem for emerging markets, but any similarity to the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) that had wrecked economies in South-East Asia is very far off the mark.

With the rupiah hitting levels last seen in the economic darkness some 20 years ago in the region, the risk of contagion has been spoken about in a growing number of circles.