Credit Risk in Asia Spikes Most This Month Since 2023

The cost to insure better-rated Asian debt against default has jumped in March by the most for any month since 2023, signaling growing concern about the economic impact of the Iran War on the region’s borrowers.

The credit-default swaps are on track to widen by 27 basis points for March after traders indicated a one-basis point increase on Tuesday, a Markit index shows. That’s the biggest monthly spike since August 2023, a time when China’s property crisis was deepening.