Japan, Asia agree to stabilize currencies-Miyazawa
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Japan and other
Asian nations agreed on Saturday to stabilize their
currencies to help achieve sustainable growth,
Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said.
Miyazawa made the comments to reporters after meeting with
Finance Ministers and central bank governors from Indonesia,
South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Later
on Saturday, Miyazawa was to discuss the world financial crisis
with his counterparts from the Group of Seven most industrialized
nations.
''In the meeting, we agreed to pursue stable foreign exchange
rates for sustainable economic growth in Asian nations,''
Miyazawa said. He gave no further details.
He said he hoped a $30 billion Japanese aid package for Asia
would lead to wider use of the Japanese yen in the region and
also to the creation of an Asian fund. Japan proposed forming
such a fund in September 1997 to stop the spread of financial
crises. Its creation was blocked by a group of countries led by
the United States, worried its lending conditions would not be as
strict as the International Monetary Fund's terms.
Miyazawa, who announced the Asia aid earlier, said it was needed
to ease the pain of Asian nations.
''It is important to help Asian nations by boosting Japanese
imports from the region,'' Miyazawa added. Unless the Asian
economy recovers, Japan's economy will not recover either, he
said.
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