ASEAN to increase swap fund

ASEAN to increase swap fund

BANGKOK (Dow Jones): The Thai central bank said Thursday that
central banks of members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations have agreed to increase the size of the fund that has
been set up to help member nations with balance of payment
problems.

The fund, known as Asean Swap Arrangement, or ASA, was
increased to US$1 billion from $200 million, Deputy Central Bank
Governor Pakorn Malakul Nelieve that nation members may tap into
the fund once it becomes bigger, Pakorn said.

The fund was set up in 1977 by the founding members of Asean -
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Other non-founding members of Asean will make their
contributions to the fund on an equal basis and will be entitled
to borrow from it, Pakorn added. ASA allows nation members to
borrow from the fund twice the size of their contributions for a
six-month period only.

The other Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam.