Banks warn Asian issuers that ‘hope is no strategy’

Asia’s credit markets were thrown into turmoil again this week after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed that the country might start reducing its asset purchase programme later this year, if the economy were to recover in line with expectations. The fresh volatility has raised the heat on issuers and bankers, who now need to make the tough call of whether it is better to print now or cling on in the hope of rates falling back once markets settle.