Javier Hernandez The leader of Malaysia has admitted that China has come up with an idea to build an Asian Monetary Fund. This is because the Malaysian government is facing difficulties due to the U.S. dollar being too strong and they don’t want to have to keep relying on it anymore.
Asia Unites to Reduce Dependence on the US Dollar
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has suggested that China and Malaysia should start talks about a special ‘Asian Monetary Fund’. This fund would help to cut down on how much the two countries rely on U.S. currency. He talked about this last week when he was speaking at the Boao Forum, and again today when he addressed Malaysian lawmakers. The Asian Monetary Fund could also help reduce dependency on the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
When I met the President of China (Xi Jinping), he said he was interested in the plan that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim proposed about creating the Asian Monetary Fund. The head of the Malaysian government also said they are working on a way to make it easier for Malaysia and China to trade money, using Malaysia’s ringgit and China’s renminbi.
The US dollar has become really expensive, and that’s causing a lot of problems for countries like Malaysia which depend on buying food. Last year, their currency (called the ringgit) hit its lowest level ever against the dollar.
Anwar Ibrahim said that a long time ago when he was Finance Minister in the 90s, he suggested creating an Asian Monetary Fund. Unfortunately, people didn’t think this was a good idea because the US Dollar was very strong. But now with countries like China and Japan having stable economies, it is worth considering this again and looking at using our different currencies too.
Anwar had something to say after the finance ministers and banks of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, which includes Malaysia, talked about how to use less western currencies like the US dollar. During a meeting in Indonesia at the end of March, they also looked for ways to make sure people start using local currencies when trading.
Do you think a special bank just for countries in Asia will be built soon? Share your thoughts about this topic in the comments section below.
