S'pore and HK discuss plans to boost financial sectors

S'pore and HK discuss plans to boost financial sectors

SINGAPORE (AP): Amid a lingering Asian economic crisis, the central banks of Hong Kong and Singapore discussed plans to boost their finance sectors at their annual meeting on Saturday.

The two bodies "also exchanged views on economic and financial developments in the region and their respective economies," according to a statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the island republic's effective central bank.

They "agreed to study possible payment system (Real Time Gross Settlement System) linkages," the statement added.

Officials from the two organizations were unavailable for further details or comment.

Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, led a delegation that met their Singapore counterparts, headed by MAS Managing Director Koh Yong Guan.

Yam later met with Singapore's deputy prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, who is also chairman of the MAS. Their discussions focused "on ways to increase bilateral cooperation between the two monetary authorities."

Representatives of the de facto central banks have met yearly since 1995.

In late February, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced measures to boost its underdeveloped fund management industry and position itself for the return of economic growth to the region.

Since the onset of the financial crisis, Hong Kong has defended its currency's longstanding peg to the U.S. dollar. Interest rates in the former British colony have risen, which has proven monetarily sound but economically painful to individuals and businesses there.

Asia's central banks have sought to stabilize the region's currencies since the Thai baht's collapse in July last year, followed shortly by the plunge in Indonesia's rupiah.

They have discussed ways to restore confidence to the region and draw international funds back to Asia.