Asian bonds see foreign inflows for 6th straight month in November

December 6, 2020: Asian bonds received inflows for the sixth consecutive month in November, helped by optimism over the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and hopes of a faster economic recovery in the region.

Asian bonds saw a combined total inflow of $1.5 billion last month, data from regional central banks and bond market associations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and India showed.

Indonesian bonds had an inflow of $1.1 billion, the highest in the region, followed by Thailand which lured $941 million.

On the other hand, South Korea faced an outflow of $823 million last month. However, South Korean bonds still lead the regional inflows for the year at $21 billion for the first 11 months of 2020.

"We see the confluence of a relatively less severe virus situation, regional exports supported by improving global demand, and ample liquidity as a winning trifecta, all of which will underpin portfolio inflows to Asia in 2021," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia Research at ANZ in Singapore.

Reuters