While Asian economies increasingly rely on local currency debt for long-term financing, the interest rates Asian governments pay on such debt varied widely during 2000-2015, as we can see in the theme chapter of the June 2016 Asia Bond Monitor (ABM).

US yields trended down since the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and remained below pre-crisis levels amid uncertain growth prospects.

While Asian countries share at least some correlation between their government bond yields and US Treasury bond yields, we also observe significant differences across the region.

Bond yields in the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore have trended down since the global financial crisis, in tandem with US bond yields.

The premium vis-à-vis US yields also fell for both Korea and the Philippines. In Singapore, bond yields were below those of the US in most years during 2000–2014.