Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told the 20th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh that his country’s chief priority for its year as hosts was the strengthening of mechanisms to ensure regional financial security.
This is widely expected to culminate in a massive doubling of funds under the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) to $240 billion from $120 billion. The CMIM – a multilateral currency swap system – was established in 2002 in response to the 1997/98 financial crisis that close to bankrupted much of the region. Back then, there was no shortage of bankers telling Southeast Asia to get its house in order.
Now, politicians here are winning back-slapping applause for telling the Europeans and the Americans that now it’s their turn to put things right. In the lead-up to the summit, central bankers from ASEAN+3, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, agreed in principle to doubling the size of the CMIM. ASEAN Beefs up Financial Security | ASEAN Beat
