The announcement by the U.S.’s Federal Reserve to reduce (“taper”) its quantitative easing program caused a scare in the emerging markets across the globe resulting in depreciation of many currencies. The influence of the Federal Reserve is understandably global but other central banks such as Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, etc. also hold significant influence over the economies outside of their own. Their policies impact the global flow of capital, accumulation of reserves, price of assets and health of banking systems.
On April 25, Gateway House hosted Dirk Thiels, Head of Investment Strategy, KBC Belgium and K. N. Vaidyanathan, Senior Geoeconomics Fellow (Adjunct), Gateway House to discuss the impact of the FED’s decision on economies across the world and also explore ways for the emerging markets to engage and protect themselves from the decisions of these central banks.
This meeting was part of the EU Series hosted by Gateway House.
Dirk Thiels is currently the Head of Investment Strategy at KBC Belgium. He has had a successful career at KBC spanning 28 years during which he has served in various capacities in the Economic Analysis department and later in the Wealth Management and Asset Management departments. He has a degree in Economic Sciences from Katholieke Universiteit Louvain.
K.N Vaidyanathan is the Chief Risk Officer of the Mahindra Group. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director at SEBI in charge of institutional investors portfolio, including domestic (MF) and foreign (FII). He has over 25 years experience in financial services, primarily in the realm of asset management. He is on the Finance Board of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
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