JAKARTA - Regulation standardisation and integration must take effect before ASEAN countries can use a common currency similar to the euro in the European Union (EU), says Standard Chartered ASEAN and South Asia Chief Economist Edward Lee.
“I think from the European project we can see that it’s good to have [a common currency], but you can see some of the many difficulties that is[sic] going through now,” said Mr Lee at a press conference after Standard Chartered’s CEO Connect seminar entitled “Exploring ASEAN Opportunities” at the Mulia Hotel, South Jakarta on Monday (19/8).
“Before we even go to [the topic of] common currency, let’s talk about standardisation, for example, of our regulations, investment rules, capital markets, etc. There’s so much more we need to get to become integrated first before we even talk about monetary policy integration, which to some extent will require quite a bit of fiscal integration as well.”
Mr Lee affirmed that before a common currency can be implemented in ASEAN there is still a lot of work that ASEAN economies need to do. Most of all, ASEAN member countries need to work on the differences in their respective financial systems before it can follow the EU’s suit and use a single currency system. (MS)