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.