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.