Some countries with weaker fiscal positions no doubt felt constrained in the extent of fiscal stimulus they provided. Similarly, monetary policies were likely influenced by differences in inflation performance. On the one hand, countries experiencing low inflation or deflation, such as China, Japan, and Thailand, were able to implement expansionary monetary policies without concerns about increasing inflationary pressures.
Indeed, Japan used unconventional monetary easing in part to avoid deeper deflation. On the other hand, inflation concerns were more pressing for Indonesia, the Philippines, and Korea, with the result that their monetary policy responses may have been more muted than would otherwise have been the case.