South Korea, China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a meeting of vice finance ministers and senior central bank officials in Laos this week for talks on their multilateral currency swap deal and ways to boost financial cooperation, Seoul's finance ministry said Monday. The ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting will take place in Luang Prabang on Wednesday and Thursday, where senior officials will check key agenda items for the upcoming meeting set to take place in Georgia on May 3, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. On the table will be how to better use and develop their Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), a US$240 billion pool launched in 2010 that can be tapped through currency swap deals in times of a financial crisis. A currency swap is a tool meant to defend against financial turmoil by allowing a country beset by a liquidity crunch to borrow money from others with its own currency. The participants will also exchange opinions on the global and regional economic situation and policy responses. South Korea will send Deputy Finance Minister Choi Ji-young as a chief delegate, the ministry said. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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