U.S. defends Soros against currency accusations

U.S. defends Soros against currency accusations

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): The United States defended
American billionaire George Soros yesterday against ASEAN
members' accusations that he was behind currency fluctuations,
arguing that the crisis was caused by economic forces.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and
Agricultural Affairs, Stuart E. Eizenstat told ASEAN foreign
ministers that there was no evidence to show that the
fluctuations were caused by speculators.

"Market movements are not dominated by a small number of
currency speculators, let alone one person, who happens to be a
U.S. citizen," Eizenstat said.

Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) at a meeting Thursday expressed their concern and
intention of fighting the sudden currency plunges, alleging that
it was a politically motivated concerted effort.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad went a step further
naming financier George Soros as the culprit. Mahathir said
Soros, a strong critic of Myanmar, wanted to punish ASEAN for
admitting Myanmar as a member.

With the admission of new members, ASEAN now groups Brunei,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.

Speaking in front of ASEAN foreign ministers at yesterday
morning's session of the Post Ministerial Conference, Eizenstat
said "it is no one's interest to undercut economies of the ASEAN
countries."

"Financial markets detected strains in the economy of one of
the ASEAN countries and reacted accordingly," he said referring
to the crisis which first hit Thailand.

"In an increasingly integrated region this had a mild
spillover effect in other countries in the region," he explained.

Eizenstat suggested ASEAN should make policy reforms to deal
with exchange rate pressures, tighten guidelines for financial
supervision and improve economic fundamentals.

Another U.S. official, State Department spokesman Nicholas
Burns, also decried the accusations against Soros.

"It is not appropriate to blame those problems on one
individual. Currency fluctuations historically ... are caused by
economic forces, not by one individual," he said.

Burns lauded Soros' reputation saying that the U.S. feels very
strongly about the accusations.

"George Soros is an honorable man, he's a man that's done a
lot of good in the world," Burns said.

Separately, Malaysian foreign minister remained steadfast in
defense of Mahathir's comments despite the U.S. objections.

"I'm sure he (Mahathir) has evidence, otherwise he wouldn't
have said it," Badawi said.

In the meeting, Badawi said it was troubling that ASEAN
continued to be hit by currency fluctuations caused by "hostile
elements bent on such unholy actions."

"We in ASEAN have resolved to intensify actions to take
counter measures," he said without elaborating. "It is time we
recognize these actions for what they really are, namely
villainous acts of sabotage." (mds)