Contagion Worry Spurs Indonesia to Strengthen Market Buffers
China Bolsters Efforts to Arrest a Selloff
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Indonesia knows more than most Asian nations what global market ructions can do, having borne the brunt of the Asian financial crisis and the 2013 taper tantrum. The world’s fourth most-populous nation is now strengthening its defenses as contagion risk looms from Greece to China.
President Joko Widodo’s administration has asked China to buy Indonesian sovereign bonds, the Finance Ministry said in Jakarta on Thursday. That follows a decision in late June to give the Financial Services Authority the power to buy local and foreign-currency government debt, as policy makers seek to contain spikes in borrowing costs during market volatility.