ASEAN seeks united defense for battered currencies<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Southeast Asian leaders yesterday called for
\na united front to defend their embattled currencies, as the units
\nplunged to new record lows.<\/p>\n
Philippine President Fidel Ramos said his Indonesian
\ncounterpart Soeharto and Thai Premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh had
\nagreed on the need for a common strategy. Japan, meanwhile said
\nit was confident a regional facility, coined the Asian Monetary
\nFund, would be established to maintain financial stability.<\/p>\n
The comments came as the Indonesian rupiah, Philippine peso
\nand Malaysian ringgit hit record lows. The usually unflappable
\nSingapore dollar fell to a 39-month low and the Thai baht closed
\nwith its value against the greenback down some 40 percent from
\nJuly 2, when its effective devaluation plunged regional
\ncurrencies into chaos.<\/p>\n
Ramos said he had spoken late Tuesday by telephone with
\nSoeharto and that the Indonesia leader agreed there was a need to
\ndefend the region's currencies.<\/p>\n
\"We spent more time (in our conversation) on the putting up of
\na common front against the speculative attacks on our national
\ncurrencies,\" Ramos told reporters at his weekly news conference.<\/p>\n
\"This is a common front in regard to policy, a common front in
\nregard to actions that need to be taken by our respective banks.\"<\/p>\n
He said the Thai premier had also agreed on the move, adding
\nthey discussed the issue during a meeting in Bangkok when Ramos
\nmade a stopover there while returning from Europe recently.<\/p>\n
The \"common front\" would be mechanisms agreed by the
\ncountries' finance ministers, Ramos said, adding he hoped it
\nwould be in place before the ASEAN leaders' summit in Kuala
\nLumpur late this year.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups
\nBrunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nSingapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
By that time \"not only will we have the speculative attacks
\nstop and the economies brought back on the path of recovery and
\nhealth but also that we will have some mechanisms to utilize to
\ndefend ourselves from future speculative attacks,\" Ramos said.<\/p>\n
The blaming of currency speculators has become a common
\nrefrain in some Asian quarters, led by Malaysian Prime Minister
\nMahathir Mohamad who has called for the jailing of \"rogue\"
\ntraders and for a ban on speculative trades.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, speaking Tuesday during an official visit to Chile,
\nsaid the root of regional exchange rate instability was the U.S.
\ndollar rather than local units, saying the greenback was
\ninherently unstable.<\/p>\n
\"There must be safeguards against abuses or rogue traders,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Ramos said he also backed the \"Asian Monetary Fund,\" which
\nwould be \"a reserve of sorts to be made available to those that
\nmight need it at a particular time but which are always
\nreimbursable.\"<\/p>\n
Japan -- Page 10<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-seeks-united-defense-for-battered-currencies-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }