ASEAN Plus Three has agreed in principle on how to reach the $120 Billion ASEAN emergency fund. This was agreed upon during 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand. The emergency fund is intended to battle future financial crises.
The agreement was that – ten ASEAN member nations will contribute 20 percent of the total amount of the emergency fund while partners China, Korea and Japan will contribute the rest.
The launching of the emergency fund called ‘Chang Mai Initiative Multilateralization’, is set in the month of May.
The Chang Mai Initiative Multilateralization is a bilateral currency swap scheme set up after the 1997-1998 financial crisis. Under the new scheme, the swaps will be multilateral, making it easier for countries under stress to borrow emergency funds. (PIA)
