Insight - It’s Fed, not White House, that matters most in Asia

Major influence: People walk past the Fed building in Washington DC. From inside these walls a massive exercise in financial stabilisation provided the most important foundations for Asia’s economic rebound from the coronavirus-induced slump. — Bloomberg

PLEASE look beyond the White House for just a few minutes, Asia. The place that matters most for you right now is the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building, a few blocks away on Constitution Ave.

Don’t let the obscurity of the address fool you. From inside these walls a massive exercise in financial stabilisation provided the most important foundations for Asia’s economic rebound from the coronavirus-induced slump.

By flooding world markets with liquidity and easing a shortage of dollars to key nations, the Fed bought policymakers vital time to plot their response to the pandemic.