In Euromoney's semi-annual ranking of country creditworthiness, the winners are the emerging countries of east and central Europe. But south-east Asian economies and even Japan ­ are looking riskier, as debt ratios worsen and monetary instability spreads. Commentary by Rebecca Dobson.

Economists now predict an upturn in the world economy. Country scores in Euromoney's country risk ranking, based on our poll of economists and political analysts, plus market data and World Bank debt figures, have jumped by an average of 2.75 percentage points. Research and commentary by Charles Piggott.