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SEOUL, Feb 24 (Reuters): Policy makers from South Korea, Japan, China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Bangkok on Tuesday to discuss how to cope with a weak US dollar, the Korea Times cited unnamed sources as saying today.
The meeting was aimed at coordinating monetary policies more closely between Asian nations, the world's top holders of foreign exchange reserves, to help deal with the impact of a sliding dollar on their economies, the South Korean paper said.
The countries agreed to set up a new organisation, called the Asian Bellagio Group, to help stabilise Asian currency markets and to act as a counterpart to the G7 group of industrialised nations, it said.
The meeting was set up by Takatoshi Ito, former Japanese vice minister of international finance, who urged currency restructuring among Asian countries to counter global economic risks associated with US fiscal and trade deficits.
The meeting also discussed a possible revaluation of the Chinese yuan, a source told the paper.
Asian countries face growing risks stemming from bulging dollar holdings after years of heavy currency market intervention to rein in their currencies and safeguard export competitiveness.
The massive dollar reserves mean Asian countries are vulnerable to fluctuations in US asset prices.
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