SE Asian countries to examine emergency fund next wek<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Southeast Asian nations will consider
\ncreating a special emergency fund to shore up confidence in the
\nregion's economies at a meeting next week, a senior Malaysian
\nofficial said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Treasury Secretary-General Clifford Herbert said finance
\nministers and senior officials of the Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss linking the new standby
\nfacility to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n
"We'll be stressing to get the ASEAN ministers to begin to
\npresent their views on trying to establish an ASEAN fund,"
\nHerbert told a news conference in the Malaysian capital.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, senior officials from Asia and beyond
\nagreed in Manila to offer bilateral aid to countries in trouble
\non a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n
But faced with strong U.S. opposition, they stopped short of
\nsupporting a permanent "Asia fund" of up to US$100 billion.<\/p>\n
Japan had initially suggested the self-contained Asia fund to
\nstabilize the region's economies, arguing that IMF resources were
\nnot enough to deal with Asia's mounting problems.<\/p>\n
The IMF has in the last few months masterminded international
\nrescue packages for Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.<\/p>\n
But Western nations, led by the United States, fear that the
\nregion's economies would fail to get their house in order if they
\nknew they could get financial help without having to go to the
\nIMF and submit to its lending conditions.<\/p>\n
Herbert said the ASEAN standby fund would be part of the
\ninitiative agreed to in Manila earlier this month to restore
\nconfidence in the region's economies.<\/p>\n
"It won't be very large, but it will just be there for
\nconfidence building," Herbert said, adding there appeared to be
\nlittle opposition to the proposal provided the fund was linked to
\nthe IMF. He did not give a figure for the fund's size.<\/p>\n
"The Asian supplementary finance facility is not a fund,
\nreally, it's a commitment. But the ASEAN fund can be different,
\nand this is what they're going to discuss," Herbert said. "Most
\nprobably it will be in conjunction with the IMF."<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Finance ministers from Australia, Myanmar, Hong Kong,
\nIndonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will
\nattend the meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 1-2, Herbert said.<\/p>\n
Deputy finance ministers from Brunei, China, Japan, Laos,
\nSouth Korea, Vietnam and the United States will also participate.<\/p>\n
A Malaysian official said Japan and the United States were
\nopposed to a permanent Asian fund to rescue economies, but that
\nASEAN members seemed determined to create their own facility as a
\nsymbol of their commitment to stability.<\/p>\n
"We are looking at ways we can restore stability in the
\nregion," Herbert said.<\/p>",
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