Asian business executives against RI's CBS plan: Poll<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (Agencies): Asian business executives have given the
\nthumbs down to a currency board system as a means of salvaging
\nthe embattled Indonesian rupiah, according to poll findings
\nreleased yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Far Eastern Economic Review and CNBC Asia Business News
\npoll found that 83 percent of executives surveyed did not believe
\na currency board system would rescue the rupiah, they said in
\nnews release.<\/p>\n
Of those polled in Hong Kong, which has a currency board
\nsystem, 89 percent agreed with that position, the release said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the currency board system would be good for
\ntheir countries, 72 percent said it would not, while 89 percent
\nin Hong Kong took the opposing view.<\/p>\n
On the International Monetary Fund's position that the
\ncurrency board would weaken the yen, 75 percent agreed with the
\nIMF, while 71 percent of Indonesians disagreed.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's President Soeharto has said he is considering
\npegging the rupiah to the dollar, a measure opposed by the IMF,
\nUnited States and other donors.<\/p>\n
Asked whether, as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
\nhas proposed, that intra-ASEAN trade be denominated in Singapore
\ndollars, 75 percent of executives polled in the region said \"no,\"
\nwith the least enthusiasm coming from Australia with 88 percent,
\nwhile Thailand was the most enthusiastic with 50 percent.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei,
\nIndonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
\nThailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The Asian Executives Poll is a weekly fax poll conducted among
\nchairmen, managing directors and top corporate executives in 10
\nAsian countries.<\/p>\n
The release did not give figures for the number of
\nrespondents.<\/p>\n
EU criticism<\/p>\n
A special representative of the European Union said in Kuala
\nLumpur yesterday that a currency board in Indonesia would be at
\nodds with the country's IMF program to rescue its economy.<\/p>\n
\"I would see the currency board as not compatible with the IMF
\nprogram at the moment and may not be at the medium term,\" Derek
\nFatchett, who is also British Junior Foreign Office Minister,
\ntold a news conference in the Malaysian capital.<\/p>\n
Jim Cloos, chef de cabinet to European Commission president
\nJacques Santer who was accompanying Fatchett, said the Group of
\nSeven industrialized nations were firmly of the view that the
\nconditions in Indonesia were not right for a currency board.<\/p>\n
Fatchett, who was on a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia as a
\npersonal emissary of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and
\nspecial representative of the EU presidency, said Indonesian
\nPresident Soeharto had indicated that he would not introduce a
\ncurrency board without the IMF's consent.<\/p>\n
Fatchett said the EU was keen to see stability return to Asian
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
During his regional tour, he said he will explore the
\nestablishment of a trust fund to support financial service
\nreforms in Asia and study the social impact of recent financial
\nturmoil. He has visited Thailand and will go to Jakarta and
\nSingapore from Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Britain warns<\/p>\n
A special envoy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in
\nKuala Lumpur on Wednesday that Indonesian plans to adopt a
\ncurrency board risked having an adverse impact on other countries
\nin Asia.<\/p>\n
\"The currency board is not compatible to the IMF programs at
\nthe moment and may not be in the medium term,\" Minister of State
\nfor Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Derek Fatchett told a
\nbriefing for foreign media.<\/p>\n
Fatchett said a currency board \"cannot be seen as a substitute
\nto the IMF program\" which should be given priority in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Our concern is the extent to which the IMF is not followed,\"
\nhe said. \"To stand outside the program runs risks, not only for
\nIndonesia but our fear is that it will have an impact to others
\nin Asia.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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