Thai minister urges U.S. help for region

Thai minister urges U.S. help for region

BANGKOK (Reuters): A senior Thai minister has urged more
direct U.S. intervention to bring stability to battered Southeast
Asian economies, the Nation newspaper reported on Saturday.

"If the U.S. shows its intentions or gives more cooperation in
helping solve problems in South East Asia, investors from the
U.S. and Europe will regain confidence," the paper quoted
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Virabongsa Ramangkura as saying.

"The IMF assistance would be enough for us if the crisis had
not spread to other countries. Now it is a global problem,"
Virabongsa said.

The United States has so far failed to give the region's
economic downturn sufficient weight especially given that Asia
markets accounted for up to a third of American technology and
product exports, Virabongsa said.

"If they allow the problems in the region to continue, their
economy will also be adversely affected," Virabongsa told the
paper.

The regional economies of Southeast Asia are struggling to
cope with currency turmoil and a liquidity squeeze amid
plummeting investor confidence since currency speculation forced
Thailand to float the baht on July 2.

Overseas markets had largely ignored the regional turmoil
until last week, when a sharp plunge in Hong Kong triggered
selling by nervous investors around the world.

On Friday, Indonesia followed Thailand and the Philippines in
accepting International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance for its
economy.

Virabongsa, who is responsible for ensuring Thailand meets its
IMF obligations under a $17.2-billion rescue package, reaffirmed
the country's commitment to work toward prescribed targets.

"We will still work in accordance with conditions set by the
IMF including slashing budgets and generating more income," he
said.

The Thai baht, which slumped to a record low of 41 to the
dollar on Friday and has lost more than 35 per cent of its value
since its float, was now more vulnerable than had been
anticipated because of the region's problems, Virabongsa said.

"These economic problems are beyond the power of any
particular country to solve, this makes it difficult to say when
the baht will stop falling," Virabongsa said.

Virabongsa, 54, is a conservative economist and former finance
minister.