Shuli Ren, Columnist

Emerging Markets’ Fragile Five Are Breaking Bad Again

Investors are looking beyond the US. But Indonesia and Turkey are not behaving well.

March 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM UTC

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

Investor-friendly economic policies are being undermined in Turkey.
Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg

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It’s not a zero-sum game. Even as global investors spooked by Donald Trump’s unpredictable policies are trimming positions in US stocks, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will plow into emerging markets. Developing nations have to earn foreigners’ trust first.

Unfortunately, some of the biggest are shooting themselves in the foot. Indonesia and Turkey, two members of the Fragile Five (the other three are South Africa, India and Brazil), are back in the limelight.