Asia is unlikely to be hit by another financial crisis similar to the one in 1997 as the region now has ample foreign exchange reserves, former US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said on May 11.
The region has also taken action to pool part of these massive reserves to defend against a repeat of the meltdown, he was quoted as telling a closed-door Merrill Lynch forum here.
"The chance of 1997 happening again is virtually non-existent," a forum participant quoted the former US Fed chief as saying. According to a participant, who did not want to be named, Greenspan drew his views from the fact that Asian central banks currently have adequate reserves compared to a decade ago when several economies were running current account deficits.
Greenspan also referred to an agreement this month by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Japan, South Korea and China to pool part of their reserves as a shield against a repeat of the 1997 crisis.
Under the agreement, the 13 countries will work toward a multi-nation scheme of currency swaps to improve an existing system introduced in 2000.
Asia now holds the bulk of the world's foreign reserves at some 2.7 trillion dollars, led by China, which alone has more than one trillion dollars. Greenspan remains an influential figure in the financial markets despite stepping down as Federal Reserve chairman last year.
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