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To: CIMA who wrote (19016)	9/16/1998 8:46:00 AM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116770

Indian trade minister backs common Asian currency 06:12 a.m. Sep 16, 1998 Eastern NEW DELHI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Indian Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde said on Wednesday that Asian countries should have a common currency to reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar. ''Even in Asia we should have a common currency so that the monopoly of America in the economic world is contained,'' Hegde told a conference of economic editors. He said even South Asian nations must have a common currency and increase trade among themselves to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar for trade. ''If you allow the (U.S.) dollar to dominate then there would be economic imperialism,'' Hegde said. The commerce minister said financial crises in Southeast Asia, Russia and Japan were creating problems for Indian exports. ''With the situation in Southeast Asian countries continuing to show little improvement, as also in Japan and Russia, the prospects of achieving an immediate breakthrough in exports appear more and more difficult,'' Hegde said. He said exports had fallen sharply in the first four months of 1998/99 and were unlikely to achieve a target growth rate of 20 percent in the current fiscal year ending on March 31. Exports fell 3.77 percent to $10.62 billion in April-July 1998 from $11.03 billion in the same period a year earlier. ''Given this situation, it appears improbable that we will achieve the targeted export growth in the current year,'' Hegde said. India needed to strengthen infrastructure, improve quality, productivity and diversify its export basket to sell more goods abroad. But Hegde ruled out a devaluation of the rupee to boost exports. ''I am not in favour of devaluation of the rupee. In countries where currencies have been devalued it did not help exports. It may only help temporarily,'' Hegde said. Later, he told reporters in reply to a question on how he saw the rupee behaving: ''The rupee has stabilised. The rupee will not depreciate further. That is my belief.'' The rupee traded steadily at 42.485/495 per dollar in late morning trade on Wednesday, little changed from its opening of 42.48/50. Other Asian nations, such as Malaysia, have also called for regional trade to be conducted in a common Asian currency. Malaysia has also said Southeast Asian nations were considering using a trade-weighted basket of currencies to reduce their reliance on other currencies, such as the U.S. dollar. Earlier this month, Hegde called dependence on the dollar ''suicidal'' and said he had sent a team of officials to the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to explore the possibilities of counter-trade without using the dollar. ((Sabyasachi Mitra, New Delhi Newsroom +91-11-301-2024 Fax +91-11-301-4043, delhi.newsroom+reuters.com)) Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.