US rate hike will not trigger Asian financial crisis: ADB chief

Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao said on Thursday he did not expect US interest rate hikes to trigger the return of a financial crisis in Asia, but the bank stood ready to lend support for countries vulnerable to "challenges".

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade at its next meeting December 15-16, raising some concern about capital flows out of Asia and emerging economies.

But Nakao, a former Japanese vice finance minister for international affairs, said Asia's financial systems had strengthened since the crisis of the late 1990s.

"US rate hikes won't cause the kind of turmoil seen during the Asian financial crisis," Nakao told Reuters in an interview. "But not all the countries are invulnerable to challenges, so the ADB will stand ready to provide funding support as needed."