Malaysia Proposes Asian Monetary Fund to Reduce Dependence on Strong U.S. Dollar
The idea of establishing an Asian Monetary Fund has caught the attention of China’s leadership, according to Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. He believes there’s no need for his country to keep depending on the U.S. dollar, which is causing problems due to its high value.
Anwar suggested the idea of the fund at the Boao Forum and talked about cutting dependence on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) too. He reported that China’s President, Xi Jinping, welcomed the idea and is ready to talk about it. Malaysia’s central bank is already working on enabling trade in their respective national currencies, ringgit and renminbi.
This proposal isn’t new; Anwar circulated it in the 1990s but it didn’t take off because the U.S. dollar was strong. Now, with the economies of China, Japan, and others flourishing, it’s worth considering the proposal.
This development follows ASEAN’s finance ministers and central bank governors discussing reducing their dependence on western currencies and exploring ways to use local currencies in trade settlements.
Clever Robot News Desk 6th April