Asian Clearing Union looking to boost mini-Asia trade
Monday, 16 June 2003, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: The Asian Clearing Union would consider setting up a clearing house to facilitate the movement of money amongst participating countries, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Bimal Jalan said Monday. The two-day meeting of the ACU began here Monday. Governors of central banks of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are participating. Two senior officials from the central bank of Thailand are also attending the meeting. "That (setting up of a clearing house) is also being considered. The pros and cons of it and the expenses associated with it, the volume of trade that will justify it (all are being considered)," Jalan told reporters on the sidelines of the 32nd meeting of the ACU. The ACU was facing three main challenges, said Jalan. "One is technology, enhancing the technological infrastructure for payment settlement in the Asian region. The second is the membership part. We would like to expand the membership of ACU. And the third important thing is the economic cooperation on a broader front," he added. A report by the technical committee had suggested that countries like Maldives, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan would join the ACU only if they were convinced that the mechanisms adopted would benefit them. Jalan told the closed-door meeting that some administrative bottlenecks had been hampering the progress "to some extent". The ACU is also scheduled to deliberate on the overall economic scenario as "the global economy is clouded by uncertainties," Jalan said at the meeting. The ACU member-countries had done well by registering a growth of over four percent in 2001-02. "However, there is a need for better volumes of trade amongst the member-countries so that the system of ACU could be utilised to the full extent for the maximum benefit of each of them," the RBI governor said. He added that it was also important for ACU members to update their technology. Members who were yet to switch over to Swift, would have to do so expeditiously to facilitate "real time" settlements.
Source: IANS
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