My Say: Southeast Asia must prepare to weather the coming storm

It is getting rough out there in the world economy. The ongoing energy price shock will hurt everyone, probably tipping the European economy into a recession while imposing pain on many a poor country. Rising interest rates will further drag global economic growth down, potentially trigger more corrections in asset prices and perhaps push a number of emerging economies into crisis as well. If China’s stimulus does not stabilise its economy, things could turn even uglier. And, to top it all, no one knows for sure what new upheavals the current geopolitical tensions might bring along.

In the midst of all the ructions the world has suffered this year, Southeast Asia’s economic performance has actually held up reasonably well: Economic growth has been fairly steady, the pick-up in inflation has not been as alarming as elsewhere, and while currencies have weakened, that has not…