Reserves drop of US$110bil signals emerging currency risk

Indonesia, India and Philippines are most at risk in Asia.

HONG KONG: The decade-long surge in foreign exchange reserves among emerging markets is coming to an end, highlighting the danger posed by future currency depreciation.

China’s holdings fell by US$46.1bil in March, the most since late 2016, official data showed on late Tuesday. The drawdown accounted for the largest share of the US$110bil that 11 emerging market central banks, including those in Turkey, India, Brazil and Egypt, yanked from their reserves last month to stem currency losses.