After the initial shock of the banking collapse in October 2008, it was only in 2009 that the full implications were felt. The collapse in trade volumes and the disappearance of bank financing, particularly in emerging markets, acted as a hydraulic break on the global economy.
Asia, which had previously been assumed to have 'decoupled' from developed markets, did not escape. Demand for the region's exports dried up and, with no substantial internal demand to fill the void, companies and commodities producers across the region suffered.
