ASEAN leaders pledge monetary coooperation

CHEJU, South Korea, May 15 (UPI) -- Finance ministers from 13 East Asian countries agreed Saturday on a program of monetary cooperation and bond market development.

They decided on that approach as part of an intensified effort to avoid another financial crisis, the Kyodo news service reported.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, South Korea and China met on the South Korean resort island of Cheju at the same time as the annual session of the Asian Development Bank.

The ministers decided to strengthen an existing network of bilateral currency swap deals known as the Chiang Mai Initiative, officials said.

The current system, which forms a network of swap accords totaling $36.5 billion, enables central banks from the 13 nations to swap foreign exchange reserves to fight speculative currency attacks.