ID :
119918
Mon, 05/03/2010 - 07:16
Auther :

Asian finance ministers confirm solid recovery after crisis+

TASHKENT, May 2 Kyodo -
East Asian finance ministers confirmed Sunday that a strong economic recovery
is under way in the region following the global financial crisis, while also
agreeing to create an intergovernmental supervisory body to sustain the
recovery amid various downside risks.
''The East Asian economies are among the first to rebound soundly,'' the
ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and
South Korea said in a joint statement released after their one-day meeting in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The economies ''have become one of the key drivers of the
global economic recovery.''
The talks came as Asian economies are recovering from the downturn caused by
the financial turmoil relatively faster than U.S. and European economies.
But the ministers warned of some downside risks, including rising asset prices
and growing inflationary pressures. Apparently taking lessons from the Greek
debt crisis, they also expressed concern over ''sovereign debt risks
precipitating renewed global risk aversion and destabilizing international
capital flows in Asian economies.''
As for a possible unwinding of emergency policies, the ministers said that the
Asian economies would ''adopt appropriate exit strategies, in accordance with
our respective economic fundamentals.''
They agreed to set up the new supervisory body in Singapore by next year. The
ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office will monitor and analyze regional
economies in a way that helps to detect risks at an early stage and implement
remedial actions.
They also reached a consensus on establishing within the year a trust fund,
dubbed the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility, with initial capital of
$700 million. The fund will be aimed at offering insurance against corporate
debt defaults and easing funding conditions for companies in the region.
On measures to prevent future financial crises, the ministers agreed to upgrade
the Chiang Mai Initiative, a multilateral currency swap arrangement involving
the 13 countries. The move came after Japan proposed creating a regional
version of the International Monetary Fund.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The gathering in Tashkent was held on the sidelines of an annual general
meeting of the Asian Development Bank.
The Japanese, Chinese and South Korean finance ministers met separately earlier
in the day with Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan calling for the
acceleration of efforts toward a trilateral free trade agreement.
Joint studies on such an accord involving government officials and business
leaders from the three countries will kick off in Seoul later this week.
==Kyodo

X