Australia to aid Asia

Australia to aid Asia

CANBERRA (Reuters): Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said yesterday the country would consider bilateral financial aid to Asian nations hit during the recent financial turmoil.

"If a further tier was requested on a bilateral basis, we would consider our position," Costello told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio in Kuala Lumpur.

"Now there've been approaches to us from (South) Korea, but we would want to know the shape of the IMF involvement and would expect an official approach by the IMF if we were being asked to contribute to a second tier package."

Australia has made available US$1 billion each to International Monetary Fund (IMF) packages for the Thai and Indonesia economies, and is waiting to see if it is approached about an IMF package for South Korea.