Asian currencies recover against dollar

Asian currencies recover against dollar

SINGAPORE (AFP): Asian currencies recovered on Tuesday after losing ground against the U.S. dollar following a fall in the baht amid fears Thailand's bad loans problem was getting worse, dealers said.

The regional currencies ended mixed when fortunes reversed with the dollar sliding amid position-squaring by funds before the new year and reports that Japanese houses might unload U.S. Treasury bills to cover up positions at home.

The baht recovered to close at 36.80 against the dollar from Mondays' close of 36.93.

Reports that Thailand might reduce interest rates to about nine percent in 1999 from about 11 to 12 percent at present did not have much impact on the currency, said Alison Seng, analyst with U.S. research house Standard and Poor's MMS here.

"The rates were due to fall anyway due to benign inflation," she said.

The baht had earlier fallen to a low of 37.20 against the dollar after the Thai central bank announced a day earlier that commercial banks' bad debts had soared to 46 percent of total lending, prompting warnings that restructuring in the crippled sector was well behind schedule.

The yen ended higher Tuesday against the dollar to 115.35 from New York's close of 116.07 and Singapore's close of 116.25 on Monday.

The Taiwan dollar edged higher to 32.246 from 32.259 and the Philippine peso to 39.090 from 39.145.

The Singapore dollar fell to 1.6597 from 1.6585 and the South Korean won to 1,209.50 from 1,209.20.