Hikes in Thailand, Malaysia and India over the next 12 months are also in investors' sights and the danger is that the mood could force policymakers to choke off support sooner than they please, or risk capital flight and a currency selloff. (File pic shows Malaysia's Bank Negara building.)
SINGAPORE: As Brazil, Russia and Turkey lift interest rates to ward off inflation and currency pressures, investors are beginning to prod Asia's central banks to follow suit, setting up a potential showdown with countries keeping rates at record lows.
South Korea and Indonesia, where central bankers have cut hard and downplayed the prospect of imminent tightening, are most firmly in the spotlight and interest rate swaps have raced to price in rate rises within a year.
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