EULER HERMES ECONOMIST EXPECTS RISE IN ASIAN COUNTERPARTY RISK

Decelerating demand from the west for goods from Asia could impact the region's economic growth, particularly exports from China and Japan, according to Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Franco-German credit insurer Euler Hermes. This, he said, could lead to a 2.5% rise in corporate insolvencies in Asia next year, after a 3.1% year on year fall in 2012. Speaking at presentations in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Osaka, Mr Subran said that, as a key market for the west, Asia would continue to grow and remain resilient, but that a decline in demand from the West had led to indications of a first-round effect in China and a second-round effect in other South-east Asian countries. Elsewhere, Mr Subran predicted that 2013 would be "double or quits" on a macroeconomic level, in the eurozone, the US, and in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey) countries.