News: 'Time not ripe for common Asian currency'

(BL 23/03/2007) New Delhi - India on Friday said a common currency for Asian countries, similar to the Euro for European nations, was still a few years away and would require more coordinated efforts on part of all the participants. "I do not believe that time has arrived for the common ASEAN currency like Euro," the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said at the India Today conclave here. A common Asian currency would require more coordinated efforts and may become a reality in near future, he said. Apart from ASEAN members, the Asian Development Bank has also considered a plan to create a regional currency unit - before introducing an actual currency - that could bring down exchange rate volatility among member countries and give a momentum for the regional bond market. Despite its potential benefits to ASEAN members and Japan, China, South Korea as well as countries such as India, the idea of common Asian currency has not made much progress due to various technical and political obstacles. Singh pointed that common Asian currency would require coordinated efforts and removal of various obstacles. Responding to questions on exploring Asian funds for infrastructure, he said: "The Government is confident that rising levels of savings will largely meet fund requirements for infrastructure." Referring to rising domestic investment and savings, he said: "Five years ago, I could not imagine that investment rate will reach 34 per cent of GDP while savings reached 32 per cent of gross domestic product."