Fitch survey: Asian credit investors think Abenomics won't help Japan

Investors in Asia Pacific credit markets do not expect Abenomics to deliver sustainably higher growth for Japan while also being concerned about geopolitical risks like European investors, Fitch said on Friday.

The rating agency said 79% of the respondents of a survey by Fitch are now worried about geopolitical risks to the region's credit markets, sharply higher than 15% recorded in August last year.

The survey among European investors had showed that 85% of them are concerned about geopolitical challenges.

Asian investors are more concerned over high-profile global sources of risk such as the crises in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria, rather than regional issues.

However, domestic political risks were highlighted in Thailand following the military takeover of the government in May, and by the outbreak of protests in Hong Kong, Fitch said.

Japan effect

Fitch said 70% of investors do not expect Abenomics to succeed in returning Japan's economy to a sustainable higher growth path.

"Just over one-fifth of respondents even fear the policy will do more harm than good by causing disruptive repricing in the government bond market," the survey report showed.

According to the rating agency, persistent weakness in GDP growth has undermined Japan's public debt dynamics.

Fitch said it still thinks Abenomics has the potential to lead Japan onto a stronger trend growth trajectory but the Bank of Japan's aggressive easing underscores the challenges the authorities face in getting the economy onto a path of sustainably stronger growth via the strategy of Abenomics.

Fitch's survey of major fixed-income investors was conducted from 9 October to 25 November 2014.