12:28 PM
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Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday he believes the worst of the euro-zone debt crisis is over and he doesn’t expect any serious impact on Asian economies from Europe’s woes in the near future.
Kuroda told reporters at the start of ADB’s annual board of governors meetings in Manila that while Europe’s markets have stabilized in recent months, more work is needed to resolve the banking sector and fiscal problems among the region’s members.
Meanwhile, assistance measures for Asia such as the Chiang Mai Initiative and the Asian Development Fund are “sufficient” to help Asian economies deal with the global headwinds for now, he said.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in April agreed to expand the Chiang Mai Initiative, a regional currency fund that members can tap in a liquidity crisis.
The ADF is a pool of funds from donors that provides concessional loans and grants to the ADB’s small and low-income members.
Separately, Kuroda reiterated earlier comments that the ADB won’t be able to provide financial assistance to Myanmar “unless and until” the country’s arrears are cleared. Myanmar, which recently embraced democratic reform, has arrears of $490 million dating back to 1988.
Kuroda said he hopes the financing restraint against Myanmar can be resolved in the next few years, and added that the ADB hopes to engage in policy dialogue with the nation and provide it with technical assistance.