Asian Bond Watch: Year in Review

This year began with a focus on three key themes – slowing global growth, ongoing US-China trade tensions and the imminent tightening of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy. Fast forward to November and this narrative continues to feature prominently in markets – with one significant exception being the shift in the stance of global central banks from a hawkish to a more dovish bearing and the resumption of lower for longer theme. Sounds like deja vu but this time round Asian central banks are getting close to their historic lower bound of interest rates.