Asean plans $80-B forex crisis buffer

05/06/2008

Madrid — Asian nations are in talks over the creation of a multinational $80-billion foreign exchange pool to be used in case of another regional financial crisis, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said in Spain.

“We are negotiating in that direction,” he told reporters at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Madrid when asked about the amount of funds which are reportedly going to be set aside for the currency swap scheme.

Nukaga met earlier on Sunday with his Chinese counterpart Xie Xuran and South Korean Finance Minister Kang Man-soo on the sidelines of the gathering, which is held outside of Asia every two years.

An agreement is expected to be announced after the finance ministers from the so-called Asean+3 group — the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea — meet later on Sunday at the gathering.

The 13 nations agreed after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to set up a bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai initiative to prevent a repeat of the turmoil.

Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006