Former ADB President Warns of Triple Financial Risks, Urges Vigilance on Bubble

By Harry Wu, SFC, 21st Century Business Herald

Looking back on the Asian Financial Crisis, what warning signs were most systematically ignored by the international community and regional countries before the crisis erupted? How can we draw on these lessons to build a more effective early warning system as we monitor the global economy today?

Takehiko Nakao, former President of the Asian Development Bank and President of the Center for International Economics and Strategy, stated in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald at the 2025 Bund Summit that it was important to “look at the risk of a bubble”.

“If the prices of real estate and stock prices went up very quickly, the Asian countries should have been more careful about it. And also if there is an inflow of capital very quickly, it should be cared. There are many lessons we should learn from it,” he added.

As stock markets around the world surge amid the AI boom, warnings about bubbles are incessant. What specific risks do financial markets face?

Nakao warned of three risks. “One is the overhang or too much accumulation of the government debt. The second is the stock prices, which can be overvalued by the expectations of the gain from AI revolution. The third is private debt, with non-banks intermediating money so much instead of banks, and it is not regulated well. ”