Central banks to meet in Bali

Central banks to meet in Bali

JAKARTA (JP): Central bank governors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold an annual meeting in Bali this week.

An official of Bank Indonesia said here yesterday that the three-day meeting, which will be held from Friday through Monday would be the 33rd such annual gathering.

Philippine central bank chief Gabriel Singson had said Monday that the meeting could discuss plans to use local currencies to pay for regional trade to save on dollars and prevent currency speculation amid Asia's financial crisis.

The plan will "reduce the demand for U.S. dollars for trade as well as speculative purposes," Singson told AFP.

He said he hoped the meeting would give a boost to trade within ASEAN.

The central bank governors from the nine ASEAN member-states had confirmed their participation and Cambodia would also be sending the director general of its central bank, the Bank Indonesia official said.

He said the meeting would discuss research and training. Central bank governors from South Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Fiji would also attend, along with the deputy governor of the central bank in Tonga, the spokesman added.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.