South Africa's finance minister urged the US on Wednesday to consider the impact that any winding down of monetary stimulus would have on emerging markets, after weeks of market volatility.

Hours before the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, minister Pravin Gordhan urged the US to "beware of the spill-over effect of your actions."

His comments come after emerging markets, including South Africa, have seen their currencies battered by speculation that the US Fed will soon begin to unwind its massive asset purchasing programs,  known as quantitative easing.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, leading central banks have pumped trillions of dollars into the US and global economies, giving investors confidence to venture into riskier emerging market assets. This pushed up stocks and currencies in many emerging markets.

But, in anticipation that the Fed will soon taper off its $85 billion per month bond-buying program, investors have begun pulling money out of emerging economies.

AFP