Thailand urges joint front against money speculators<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AFP): Beleaguered Thailand urged Southeast Asian
\nneighbors yesterday to close ranks against currency speculators
\nat next week's global monetary talks as turmoil assails regional
\nfinancial markets.<\/p>\n
The call came as senior officials from the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held talks here ahead of Friday's
\ninaugural meeting of finance ministers from Asia and Europe which
\nwill focus on the currency crisis.<\/p>\n
"Yes, I would like to see that," Thai Finance Minister Thanong
\nBidaya told reporters when asked whether ASEAN would adopt a
\njoint front against speculators at the IMF-World Bank talks in
\nHong Kong.<\/p>\n
Thanong said Bangkok realized that market forces had to be
\n"respected" in an era of increasing financial sector
\nliberalization, but said ways should be found to curb rampant
\nspeculation and stabilize battered regional currencies.<\/p>\n
"It is quite important that somehow... some mechanics and
\ntechniques should be devised to stabilize the movements of all
\nthese currencies," Thanong said.<\/p>\n
He did not say what specific measures Thailand wanted to see
\nadopted to curb speculators who laid siege on regional currencies
\nafter the central Bank of Thailand floated the baht on July 2.<\/p>\n
Analysts say ASEAN is expected to urge the International
\nMonetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank at the Hong Kong meeting
\nto devise ways of curbing largely U.S.-based offshore hedge funds
\nwho led the attack.<\/p>\n
Thailand floated the baht in an effective devaluation,
\nabandoning its exorbitant defense of the currency with its
\neconomy in deep crisis under the weight of billions of dollars in
\nbad debt run up by the finance sector.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian financial markets have since gone into a
\ntailspin, with the Malaysian ringgit, the Indonesian rupiah and
\nthe Philippine peso hitting record lows while even the normally
\nrobust Singapore dollar has not been spared by currency
\nspeculators.<\/p>\n
Stock prices have fallen sharply with foreign investors
\nfleeing the region.<\/p>\n
Senior officials Thursday agreed to pursue efforts to
\ninstitute an ASEAN currency swap arrangement that would come to
\nthe aid of partners in need of liquidity at times of crisis,
\ndelegates said.<\/p>\n
Supachai Phistvanich, permanent secretary at the Thai ministry
\nof finance, said Brunei and Vietnam were not yet ready to join
\nsuch an arrangement but would study the proposal.<\/p>\n
Supachai said the ASEAN senior officials' meeting discussed
\nthe currency crisis, but refused to reveal substantive details
\nwhich he said were a "secret."<\/p>\n
He said finance ministers from the regional grouping would
\nmeet in Kuala Lumpur on December 2-3 in the run-up to an informal
\nsummit to be hosted by the Malaysian capital to discuss
\ndevelopments in the financial sector.<\/p>\n
The meeting was reportedly proposed by Malaysia to discuss
\nconcrete cooperation in the fight against what it has called
\nfinancial market "manipulation."<\/p>\n
Thanong was due to meet with finance ministers from six other
\nASEAN member-states for informal talks yesterday ahead of an
\nAsia-Europe meeting (ASEM) on financial sector cooperation.<\/p>\n
Senior officials from the seven ASEAN members -- Brunei,
\nIndonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
\nVietnam -- were holding preparatory talks here Thursday
\nafternoon. ASEAN also groups Myanmar and Laos, which are not a
\npart of the ASEM dialogue.<\/p>\n
Thanong, who will chair the Asia-Europe finance ministers'
\nmeeting, said delegates from the two continents would aim for
\n"constructive consultations" on ways to stabilize Southeast Asian
\nfinancial markets.<\/p>",
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