Economists are fretting that Asia will suffer as European banks try to shrink their balance sheets while supporting clients at home.
A combination of warnings about the effect of European woes on Asia and concrete signs of foreign capital leaving the region have multiplied in recent days, especially for countries with deficits that by definition have to import capital.
South-east Asia has already seen dramatic reversals of the capital inflows of a few months back as foreign holdings of local currency bonds in the region fall. In Indonesia, for example, foreign ownership of local currency bonds has dropped 51 per cent from August through to November, according to data from JPMorgan Chase Bank, putting downward pressure on the currency, which has dropped 7 per cent against the dollar.