E. Asian nations agree to double regional currency swap scheme

MANILA. May 3. KAZINFORM Finance ministers and central bank governors from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea agreed Thursday to double the size of a multilateral currency swap arrangement to $240 billion in a bid to shield the region from future financial crises.

The beefing up of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization scheme, which aims to address balance-of-payments and short-term liquidity difficulties in the region, comes amid calls to strengthen the Asian safety net to act as a buffer to risks that the eurozone debt crisis could pose, Kyodo reports.

''The doubling of the CMIM comes at the right time and Japan will make appropriate contributions,'' said Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi at a press conference following the meeting held prior to a two-day annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank from Friday.

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