According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Korea and China are not among the emerging economies considered high-risk amid the recent financial woes in emerging markets.

The Financial Times reported on February 4 that the investment bank classified emerging economies based on seven indicators including current account balance, foreign exchange reserves, foreign exchange reserves to short-term foreign debt ratio and foreign debt to exports ratio in its recent report.

According to the results, Korea, China and Russia fared well as they maintained current account surplus and had a high ratio of foreign exchange reserves to short-term foreign debt.

Mexico and Poland showed positive results as well as they had a low current account deficit and a safe foreign exchange reserve level.

However, Turkey, the Republic of South Africa, India and Indonesia were classified as the highest-risk group.

Brazil – often dubbed as the “fragile five” along with the above four countries – was not in the highest-risk group thanks to its high foreign exchange reserve to short-term foreign debt ratio.

The British newspaper advised that investors seeking a haven from the recent emerging market turmoil should consider the research results.