APEC draft calls for FX flexibility, Doha restart

Hanoi, Sept 8: Pacific Rim Finance Ministers called on Friday for some emerging Asian economies to show greater currency flexibility to address global imbalances and for the group to work towards reviving world trade talks.

''We resolved to work with our own trade authorities to make tangible contributions to restart the Doha round,'' the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum said in a draft statement obtained by Sources.

APEC, which says it accounts for about 47 percent of all world trade, discussed the need for greater exchange rate flexibility among ''some economies as appropriate in emerging Asia.'' The United States has been pressing fellow APEC member China to allow greater flexibility in its yuan exchange rate to address its record-high trade deficit with the Asian country.

Finance ministers pledged joint action toward ''orderly readjustment of global imbalances'', noting that every economy around the world had a part to play.

The two-day conference in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, was scheduled to close with a media briefing at 0500 GMT by finance officials of the 21-member group.

Participants said the delegates discussed efforts to secure financial systems from abuses such as money-laundering and to bolster banks against the use of their accounts for holding money for the development of weapons of mass destruction.

In a region still haunted by memories of the 1997 fiscal crisis, the ministers urged reforms aimed at strengthening financial sectors.

However, the statement said those reforms should be accompanied by ''a sound macroeconomic framework'' and a strong legal system.

REUTERS