Asian officials have agreed to put up a standby fund to help countries who may suffer liquidity problems as a result of the global financial crisis, with the World Bank committing $US10 billion ($14.31 billion), the Philippine president said Wednesday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the agreement was reached in Washington after a meeting of finance officials from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their partners from Japan, China and South Korea and representatives of international lending institutions.
Arroyo said the fund will help the 10 ASEAN countries with severe liquidity problems, and can be used to purchase bad assets and recapitalise troubled financial institutions and private companies.
She said the Philippines was not among the affected countries, but did not say which ones may be using the fund.
Arroyo said the World Bank initially committed $US10 billion, and called on the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, Japan, China, South Korea and the rest of ASEAN to contribute to the fund.
"The ASEAN plus three members and the multilaterals welcomed our initiative not only in providing access to financing but also more importantly in boosting confidence in the ASEAN economies,'' Arroyo said in a speech.
The World Bank and IMF will draft the implementing mechanism as soon as possible in consultation with ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors, and another meeting will be convened on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM summit, in Beijing next week to discuss the guidelines, Arroyo said.
Arroyo also called on the world's richest economies to consider poorer nations' interest in any measures they take to ease the global financial crisis.
ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
AP
