Extreme liquidity shortage during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 have motivated some ASEAN+3 economies to initiate bilateral swap arrangements (BSA) with countries either inside or outside the grouping.
Conditionality is an essential supplement to crisis financing programs. However, such conditions have long been debated by scholars and policymakers globally, as to whether they promote economic growth and development or undermine the national sovereignty of borrowers and hinder economic recovery.
ASEAN+3 leaders have reaffirmed their strong support for the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) Agreement and the mandates given to the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) at the 24th ASEAN+3 Leaders’ Summit hosted by Brunei Darussalam on October 27, 2021.
Mr. Toshinori Doi, Director of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) has been invited to join the 24th ASEAN+3 Leaders’ Summit as an observer.
On May 3, 2021, the finance ministers and central bank governors of ASEAN+3 members — comprising the 10 Southeast Asian countries, and China, Japan and Korea — stressed that the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) facility should take on a more instrumental role in catering to members’ needs, amid the unprecedented economic turmoil wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 24th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM+3) was convened on 3 May 2021 under the co-chairmanship of H.E. Dato Ahmaddin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Fiscal) of Brunei Darussalam, H.E. Rokiah Badar, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam and H.E. Nam-Ki Hong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Juyeol Lee, Governor of the Bank of Korea.
The amended Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) Agreement, which is a regional financing arrangement among the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the ASEAN member states, China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN+3) and the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong, China, came into effect on 31 March 2021.
The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), with a financing capacity of USD240 billion, aims to provide emergency financing for ASEAN+3 economies in the event of short-term financial shocks.
One year on, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive human casualties, with more than 70 million confirmed infections worldwide and causing more than 1.5 million deaths.
The past century witnessed heightened frequency and magnitude of financial crises, and the global communities’ response to them have largely shaped the modern international financial system that is in place today.
