Thailand, Japan to Sign Currency-Swap Deal Next WeekThailand and Japan will sign a preliminary agreement on a 3-billion-U.S. dollar bilateral currency-swap plan when their finance ministers meet in Hawaii, U.S., on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank meeting next week, the Nation Newspaper reported Tuesday.Thai Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak was quoted as saying that details of the deal would be worked out after the signing on May 9. The three-year renewable arrangement would be the first deal of a network of bilateral and regional currency-swap arrangements envisaged by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea. Finance ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea met recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to lay down further guidelines on creation of a regional currency-swap scheme, which analysts saw as an important move toward the creation of an Asian Monetary Fund. Aside from the regional swap deal, bilateral swap agreements among Asian countries are also being negotiated. The regional and bilateral swap deals are expected to eventually become the last financial resort for Asian countries, which have found it increasingly difficult to win support from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or G-7 countries in times of financial crisis. ASEAN currently groups Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. |
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