$80-Billion FUND TO protect currencieS

By Bloomberg, The Nation Published on October 13, 2008 Asian nations to pool foreign exchange reserves Japan and Korea are pushing ahead with a planned US$80-billion fund aimed at shielding Asian currencies from speculative attacks amid increased volatility in the global financial market. China and the 10-country Asean will also be key contributors of the proposed fund. According to a recent meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan, Korea and China agreed to set up the pool of foreign-exchange reserves to be tapped by nations when they need to protect their currencies. China currently has the world's biggest foreign exchange reserves of $1.8 trillion, while Japan's reserves amounted to more than $900 billion. China, Japan, and South Korea will provide 80 per cent of the foreign-exchange pool, while Asean will... [read full story]