ASEAN will study impact of hot money

ASEAN will study impact of hot money

HANOI (Reuters): Southeast Asian nations will study the
possibility of setting up a mechanism to protect the region from
the shocks associated with hot money flows, Indonesia's top
economics minister said on Sunday.

Ginandjar Kartasasmita, coordinating minister for economy,
finance and industry, said in an interview the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would examine ways of monitoring
capital flows.

"There will be an agreement for ASEAN to study how we can get
together to set up a mechanism to monitor and in due course to
protect this area from the shocks of short-term capital flows,
but there are no immediate steps in that direction," he said.

Ginandjar was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting between
ASEAN foreign and economic ministers that has tried to focus on
dragging the region out of the doldrums.

The weekend meetings will be followed on December 15-16 by a
summit of ASEAN leaders.

In September, Malaysia announced the imposition of capital
controls to the concern of many foreign investors.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.