ASEAN, East Asia finance officials seek easier access to $240 billion liquidity fund

By Stefanno Sulaiman

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Countries in East and Southeast Asia are looking at ways to ease access to a $240 billion currency swap arrangement, including allowing it to be tapped for pandemic or disaster response, Indonesia’s deputy central bank governor said on Thursday.

Discussions took place for two days since Wednesday about liquidity support among deputy central bank governors and finance officials of the “ASEAN+3”, a grouping that consists of South Korea, China, Japan and the 10 members of the Association of…