Common foreign currency reserve may be a goal

APEC member economies could work toward a common foreign currency reserve to promote regional financial stability, an expert says.

Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering of finance ministers in Bali on Sept 20 that multilateral foreign-exchange swap arrangements may be put in place to support economies facing difficulties from "external shocks".

He did not give further details on which ministers had raised the idea or which countries the arrangement would support.