Japan will propose a new currency swap framework with its

Japan will propose a new currency swap framework with its
Asian neighbor countries to avert a financial meltdown in the
region, a daily said on Saturday.

Japan plans to make the proposal in May, when finance
ministers of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) as well as China and South Korea meet, the Asahi Shimbun
said.

Under the system, tens of billions of dollars would be swapped
to prop up the currencies of China, South Korea and ASEAN nations
when they appear on the verge of plummeting, they said.

The framework will complement the 2002 Chiangmai Initiative in
which ASEAN, Japan, China and South Korea agreed to form a
network to support each other in case of a financial crisis in
the region.

Japan is confident of winning support for the proposal. "There
is no reason for objection to the proposal," a finance ministry
official was quoted by the daily as saying. -- AFP