ASEAN+3 reach agreement on all main components of regional reserve pool

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren
attends a joint press conference of finance ministers of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3), in
Bali, Indonesia, May 3, 2009. The ASEAN+3 finance ministers reached on
Sunday the agreement on all main components of regional reserve pool, and
will implement it before the end of this year. (Xinhua/Yue
Yuewei)
Photo
Gallery

BALI, Indonesia, May 3 (Xinhua)
-- Finance ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan
and South Korea (ASEAN+3) reached here on Sunday the agreement on all main
components of regional reserve pool, and will implement it before the end of
this year.

The agreement on Chiang Mai Initiative
Multilateralization (CMIM) includes "the individual country's contribution,
borrowing accessibility, and the surveillance mechanism," said a statement
issued after the finance ministers' meeting.

The total size of the CMIM is
120 billion U.S. dollars with the contribution portion between ASEAN and the
Plus Three countries at20 percent versus 80 percent.

A joint press conference of finance
ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and
South Korea (ASEAN+3), is held in Bali, Indonesia, May 3, 2009. The
ASEAN+3 finance ministers reached on Sunday the agreement on all main
components of regional reserve pool, and will implement it before the end
of this year. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Photo
Gallery

China and Japan will each contribute 38.4 billion
U.S. dollars to the pool, while South Korea will contribute 19.2 billion
dollars.

Among China's portion, Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region will contribute 4.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The CMIM is set up to "address short-term liquidity
difficulties in the region and to supplement the existing international
financial arrangements," the statement said.

The ministers agreed to establish an independent
regional surveillance unit to monitor and analyze regional economies and support
CMIM decision-making. As a start, there would be an advisory panel of experts to
work closely with the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren (L)
poses for a group photo with his Japanese counterpart Kaoru Yosano (C) and
his South Korean counterpart Yoon Jeung-hyun before their meeting in Bali,
Indonesia, on May 3, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo
Gallery

China, Japan, S Korea reach agreement
on distribution ratio of regional reserve pool

BALI, Indonesia, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China, Japan, and South
Korea have reached an agreement on the distribution ratio of a 120-billion-U.S.
dollar regional foreign-exchange reserve pool plan here on Sunday.

China, Japan, and South Korea will contribute to the pool
on a 2:2:1 ratio, namely 38.4 billion U.S. dollars from China and Japan each and
19.2 billion from South Korea. Full story

ASEAN countries agree on individual
contributions to regional reserve pool


PATTAYA, Thailand, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The ten
member countries of the Association of the South East Asian (ASEAN) Thursday
agreed on individual contributions to the foreign reserve pool, Thailand's
Finance Minister Korn Chativanij said in a joint press conference in beach
resort Pattaya in Thailand's central province of Chonburi.

The agreement was made during the
13th ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting ahead of the ASEAN Plus Three summit, to
be held April 10 to 12 in Pattaya.

Full story

Finance ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) hold a
meeting in Bali, Indonesia, May 3, 2009. The ASEAN+3 finance ministers
reached here on Sunday the agreement on all main components of regional
reserve pool, and will implement it before the end of this year.
(Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Photo
Gallery

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren
(Front) attends a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kaoru Yosano and
his South Korean counterpart Yoon Jeung-hyun in Bali, Indonesia, on May 3,
2009.(Xinhua Photo)
Photo
Gallery

China injects $38 bln into Asian crisis fund

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING,May 4-- China, Japan and South Korea Sunday finalized
details of an emergency 120 billion U.S. dollars liquidity fund to help 13 Asian
economies counter the global economic downturn.

The three nations will contribute on a 2:2:1 ratio - 38.4 billion U.S.
dollars from China and Japan and 19.2 billion U.S. dollars from South Korea -
making up 80 percent of the fund, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren
attends a joint press conference of finance ministers of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3), in
Bali, Indonesia, May 3, 2009. The ASEAN+3 finance ministers reached on
Sunday the agreement on all main components of regional reserve pool, and
will implement it before the end of this year. (Xinhua/Yue
Yuewei)
Photo
Gallery

Japan has also launched a separate scheme to supply up to 6 trillion yen
(61.5 billion U.S. dollars) to support nations hit by the economic crisis.

Both announcements were made on the Indonesian island of Bali, on the
sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) annual meeting.

South Korean Minister of Finance Yoon Jeung-hyun told reporters after a
meeting with counterparts from China and Japan that Beijing and Tokyo would each
contribute 32 percent to the regional initiative.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren (L)
poses for a group photo with his Japanese counterpart Kaoru Yosano (C) and
his South Korean counterpart Yoon Jeung-hyun before their meeting in Bali,
Indonesia, on May 3, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery

South Korea would provide 16 percent, while the rest would come from the
10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said.

The fund will give emergency balance of payments support to any country
experiencing the kind of capital flight that marked the Asian financial crisis
of 1997-98.

"The three countries have reached an agreement, recognizing the importance
of our cooperation in the region," said Yoon.

The deal between the key players over what would be the region's first
anti-crisis fund makes it likely all countries involved would conclude
negotiations on the initiative by the end of the day. ASEAN includes Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.

ADB lending

The ADB also plans to counter the crisis by ramping up lending to about 33
billion U.S. dollars over the next two years, almost a 50 percent increase on
2007-08. The Manila-based multilateral lender is funded by donations mainly from
Japan, the United States and European nations.

"The economic crisis in Asia has had a much more severe impact than
probably we have reckoned," said Rajat Nag, managing director-general of the
ADB.

Jong-Wha Lee, its acting chief economist, added economies in Asia had
probably hit the bottom of the crisis but a major recovery still hinged on the
revival of demand in developed nations, while officials suggested growing
efforts by Asian nations to protect themselves will complement the role played
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in combating the global recession.

"We are seeing a greater multi-lateralisation and expansion of the Chiang
Mai Initiative, which is not at the cost of the region's role in the IMF or the
IMF's role in the region," said Nag, who added: "If the region is going to be an
economic growth center it is appropriate it knows it has the resources and
reserves to stand on its own feet."

(Source: China Daily)

China, Japan, S Korea reach agreement
on distribution ratio of regional reserve pool

BALI, Indonesia, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China, Japan, and South
Korea have reached an agreement on the distribution ratio of a 120-billion-U.S.
dollar regional foreign-exchange reserve pool plan here on Sunday.

China, Japan, and South Korea will contribute to the pool
on a 2:2:1 ratio, namely 38.4 billion U.S. dollars from China and Japan each and
19.2 billion from South Korea. Full story

ASEAN countries agree on individual
contributions to regional reserve pool


PATTAYA, Thailand, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The ten
member countries of the Association of the South East Asian (ASEAN) Thursday
agreed on individual contributions to the foreign reserve pool, Thailand's
Finance Minister Korn Chativanij said in a joint press conference in beach
resort Pattaya in Thailand's central province of Chonburi.

The agreement was made during the 13th ASEAN Finance
Ministers' Meeting ahead of the ASEAN Plus Three summit, to be held April 10 to
12 in Pattaya. Full story

Major advanced economies slide further into recession

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

A man walks past a shop advertising a sale in Tokyo Jan. 30, 2009. The world's second largest economy is in the midst of its first recession in seven years as the global economic slowdown sharply reduced demand overseas for cars, electronics and other key exports. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's economy shrank
at its fastest pace in nearly 35 years in the fourth quarter of 2008, joining
other major advanced economies in sliding further into recession.

Japan, which is largely driven by exports, suffered a
loss of 12.7 percent in its gross domestic product (GDP) in the October-December
period last year, a government report said Monday, blaming the worsening
situation on plunging external demand, rapid deceleration of the world economy
and a stronger yen.

Earlier in October, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso
had unveiled a 27 trillion yen (275 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package to
bolster the world's second largest economy.

In December, Japan's central bank cut its key
interest rate to 0.1 percent, lowering borrowing rates to nearly zero, and
adopted new measures to pour more money into the banking system to shake off a
widening credit crunch.

These moves in some way helped promote internal
demand, but were not enough to instantly pull the export-driven economy out of
recession as international demand for made-in-Japan continues to shrink amid the
spiraling global economic crisis.

However, Japan is only part of a gloomy global
picture. Recent data indicates that the major advanced economies of the world
are slipping further into recession despite governments' efforts to stimulate
growth.

In the United States, the economy plummeted at an
annualized rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, the worst since
1982, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

According to the country's Institute for Supply
Management, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in
January for the 12th consecutive month.

Meanwhile, consumer spending, which accounts for
two-thirds of overall U.S. economic activity, recorded an unprecedented
six-monthly decline last December, indicating that the economy has yet to hit
bottom.

The government's newly passed 787 billion dollar
stimulus plan, which U.S. President Barack Obama described as a "major milestone
on our road to recovery," is yet to be tested for effectiveness, and
presidential aides have warned consumers not to expect instant miracles.

Further, the Wall Street Journal quoted economists as
forecasting that the United States will see an annualized GDP decline of 4.6
percent in the first three months of 2009 and a 1.5percent decline in the second
quarter.

Meanwhile in Europe, flash official figures released
last Friday suggest that GDP in both the European Union (EU) and the euro zone
contracted steeply in the fourth quarter of 2008, falling for the third quarter
in a row.

The 1.5 percent GDP decline in both the euro zone and
the EU from the previous quarter is even worse than the 1 percent contraction in
the U.S. economy during the same period.

The German economy, which is Europe's biggest, shrank
by 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter last year compared with the previous one,
representing the biggest decline since the country's reunification nearly two
decades ago.

Germany's reliance on exports of goods like cars and
factory equipment have made it particularly vulnerable to the global economic
turmoil and collapsing world trade.

In Britain, the central bank predicted last Wednesday
that the country's economy could shrink as much as 6 percent in 2009 compared
with the previous year, with rising unemployment, weak consumer spending and low
investment levels threatening to further dampen output.

The economies of France and Italy declined by 1.2
percent and 1.8 percent respectively versus the previous quarter, wiping out any
illusion that the euro zone is getting off lightly amid the worldwide meltdown.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International
Monetary Fund, recently said that leading economies are already in depression,
adding that the worst was probably still to come, urging swifter and more
determined stimulus action from governments.