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.