Asian currencies weakened, led by South Korea’s won, as concern the region’s economic growth is slowing and Europe’s debt crisis is worsening sapped demand for emerging-market assets. The Asian Development Bank cut its 2011 growth forecast for the region excluding Japan today, saying inflation will put pressure on regional policy makers to manage price increases even as a faltering global recovery reduces economic growth. South Korea’s finance ministry held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the situation in Europe and said officials will enhance monitoring of capital flows and markets to cope with any turbulence. The won plunged 2.1 percent to 1,099.93 per dollar as of 11:50 a.m. in Seoul from Sept. 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Indonesia’s rupiah slumped 0.7 percent to 8,773 from yesterday, the Philippine peso dropped 0.5 percent to 43.205 and Malaysia’s ringgit weakened 0.4 percent to 3.0785. Korean financial markets were closed for the first two days of this week for public holidays. “The European debt concern prevails in the market, which weighs on the riskier assets like the Asian currencies,” said Tohru Nishihama, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “There is concern about the economic slowdown in Asia, which adds to weak sentiment.” Asian Development Bank cut its growth projection to 7.5 percent from an April estimate of 7.8 percent. It raised the region’s inflation forecast to 5.8 percent this year, from 5.3 percent. Economic Data India’s industrial production rose in July at the slowest pace since 2009 and Philippine exports dropped for a third month, according to reports this week. The Bank of Thailand sees increased risks to global growth, which may pose a larger threat to the domestic economy than inflation, Praipol Koomsup, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee, said on Sept. 12. The won reached a five-month low as markets reopened after the Chuseok holiday. Greece’s budget deficit widened 22 percent in the first eight months of the year, fanning speculation the country will fail to meet conditions for further bailout funds. “The won is weakening as market sentiment worsened on the European debt crisis during Chuseok,” said Yu Won Jun, a currency dealer at Korea Exchange Bank in Seoul. “Currency losses will depend on exporters’ selling dollars to capitalize on the relatively strong dollar, and government intervention to stabilize currency movements.” Taiwan Stock Sales Taiwan’s dollar declined for an eighth day, the longest losing streak since February 2009, after foreign funds sold $513 million more Taiwan stocks than they bought yesterday. The currency slipped 0.2 percent to NT$29.552 against its U.S. counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It touched NT$29.555 earlier, the weakest level since March. Export orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, rose 7.6 percent in August from a year earlier, compared with an increase of 11.1 percent the previous month, according to the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg before an official report on Sept. 20. Elsewhere, the Singapore dollar declined 0.3 percent to S$1.2469 against the greenback, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China’s yuan gained 0.09 percent to 6.3935, while Thailand’s baht was little changed at 30.20. To contact the reporter on this story: Yumi Teso in Bangkok at yteso1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

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