ASEAN sets surveillance

ASEAN sets surveillance

HONG KONG (Dow Jones): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will begin setting up an economic-surveillance mechanism for the region at a high-level meeting in Manila Tuesday, according to a senior ASEAN official.

The idea of setting up some sort of early-warning system was proposed in the wake of the currency crisis that began in July 1997 with the devaluation of the baht, reports the Intelligence column in the latest edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review published Thursday.

The official says that the plan is to extend the scope of surveillance well beyond exchange rates and include macroeconomic as well as social indicators such as income and employment.