The amounts they raise on global capital markets are pretty trivial: less than 2% of South Korean and Singaporean government debt is denominatedinforeigncurrency, for example.
And in sharp contrast to Asia, over half of New Zealand's foreign debt is denominatedin its own currency, reducing the potential impact of a fall in the exchange rate.
About 70% of all household and business debt is denominatedinforeign currencies, mainly Swiss francs, making the country hostage to a currency over which it has limited control.
The theory holds that a depreciating currency allows exporters to cut the prices of their products as denominatedinforeign currencies and thus gobble up market share.
On the non-operating side, the rapid depreciation of the Korean won against the US dollar in September resulted inforeign exchange-related losses of around 420 billion won due to translation of foreigncurrency- denominated assets and liabilities.