Asia-Pacific nations urged to help curb oil prices
Asia-Pacific nations urged to help curb oil prices
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): Thailand has urged a powerful group of Asia-Pacific nations to pressure oil exporting countries into reducing the high crude prices before "it leads to another economic crisis."
In a letter dated Thursday to the foreign ministers of the 21- member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said his government is "very concerned about the adverse impact of high oil prices on the global economy."
A copy of the letter was distributed to news agencies Friday.
Earlier this week, oil prices surged to their highest levels since the 1991 Gulf War with traders blaming low U.S. inventories of crude and concerns that the world's largest producer, Saudi Arabia, has curbed production. Crude is now being traded around US$32 a barrel.
Surin said APEC should consider conveying collectively "a strong and unified message to the international community, particularly the oil exporting countries" about the adverse impact of the high prices on the recovery of the East Asian economies. T he problem should be dealt with "before it gets out of hand and leads to another economic crisis," Surin wrote.
He sent a similar letter to the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation group that includes Thailand. Another letter was sent to the foreign ministers of Indian Ocean rim countries.
Most ASEAN members are part of APEC, which is made up of the United States, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Thailand and other Asian countries are just recovering from a severe economic crisis in 1997 that saw foreign investments dry up, economies shrink and local currencies depreciate drastically.
In his letter, Surin said the high oil price could "seriously hinder, and possibly reverse, the economic recovery in Asia and other parts of the world, thus posing a serious threat to global economic stability."
Thailand recently increased gasoline prices twice this month and beginning in September will scrap subsidies given to industries for liquefied petroleum gas.
Despite these measures, it expects its Oil Fund to be completely depleted by the end of the year. The Oil Fund is used to maintain retail petroleum prices at a steady level and to subsidize LPG prices.