Asian central bankers to discuss forex fund

Asian central bankers to discuss forex fund

MANILA (Reuter): Central bankers from several Asia-Pacific
nations will discuss the possibility of setting up a foreign
exchange stabilization fund in a meeting in Manila starting
today, a Philippine Central Bank official said.

The official said the fund had already been discussed at a
meeting in Hong Kong in January and during the Asian Development
Bank annual meeting in New Zealand earlier this month.

The Manila meeting would give central bank representatives
from the six ASEAN countries, along with Taiwan, Sri Lanka, South
Korea, Nepal and several Pacific island nations, a chance to
discuss how the fund would operate.

Asian foreign exchange trading was rocked earlier this year
when Mexico's financial crisis sparked a wave of anxiety over
emerging markets.

The stabilization fund would give countries extra resources to
use to smooth out sharp fluctuations in their currency markets,
the official said.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.

The Pacific nations attending the four-day meeting include
Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.