Nine Asian nations vow to stabilize their currencies
Nine Asian nations vow to stabilize their currencies
BANGKOK (Agencies): Top officials from nine Asian central banks agreed at a meeting here on Saturday to strengthen cooperation to maintain the stability of regional currencies, a Thai central bank official told Reuters yesterday.
"After exchanging views on the recent volatility in the foreign exchange markets, we jointly agreed to strengthen our cooperation to maintain the stability of currencies in the region," said a Bank of Thailand senior official.
Speculators drove the baht to a 10-and-a-half year low of 26.50 to the dollar 10 days ago before Southeast Asian central banks intervened. The Bank of Thailand fixed the official mid- rate Friday at 25.79 to the dollar.
The Bank of Thailand in a separate statement yesterday said the top Asian monetary officials gathered here as part of the regular meeting of Executives' Meeting of East Asia and Pacific (EMEAP) Central Banks.
The meeting, which was held without publicity, included senior central bankers and top monetary officials from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and Thailand, the official said.
In a related development, Thai Prime Minister Chaowalit Yongchaiyudh led top economic officials at an urgent meeting with some 100 business leaders in Pattaya yesterday to discuss measures to boost exports.
Commerce Minister Narongchai Akrasanee told reporters that the government had called an urgent "export summit" to inform exporters of existing and planned measures and to hear proposals from the private sector.
After a decade in which gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 8.0 percent to 9.0 percent, exports collapsed from a 23.6 percent growth in 1995 to a decline of 0.1 percent last year.
Analysts see a recovery in exports as crucial to domestic and international confidence, affecting investment and the baht currency.
Local newspapers said Sunday that the authorities planned to reveal measures to control corruption in the customs department.
The country is going through an adjustment in the structure of its exports as it becomes less competitive in low-wage sectors.
Narongchai said he would remind exporters that they first had to help themselves and cooperate with the government, and not wait for the government to save them.
Viroj Amatakhunchai, chairman of a local textile producers association, said the biggest problem facing exporters during the current economic slowdown was cashflow.
The most important step the government could take would be to speed up the Excise Department's processing of value-added tax (VAT) refunds to exporters, he said.
"Problems with VAT refunds affect the cost of production and the ability to compete. If the government solves this problem it could boost the export industry immediately," Viroj said.
Refunds to most exporters are only received after five months, an improvement on eight-to-nine months in the recent past, but not good enough, he said.
Cashflow was also very tight because commercial banks were refusing to extend additional loans for working capital, he said.