The leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have concurred to “ encourage the usage of local currencies for economic and financial deals. ” The group comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This shift will support them reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar.
Southeast Asian Countries’ De-Dollarization Efforts
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, for the 42nd ASEAN Summit on May 10th - 11th under the chairmanship of the Republic of Indonesia. ASEAN members consist of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The summit lived chaired by H.E. Joko Widodo, president of Indonesia.
An official declaration released by the chairman at the conclusion of the summit states “ We adopted the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on Advancing Regional Payment Connectivity and raising Local Currency deal to foster bilateral and multilateral payment connectivity arrangements to strengthen economic integration by enabling fast, seamless, and additionally affordable cross-border payments across the region. ”
The declaration continues:
We commit to encourage the use of local currencies for economic and financial transactions among ASEAN member states to deepen regional financial integration and promote the development of currency market in local currency to strengthen financial stability in the region.
At the end of March, the ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors caught in Bali, Indonesia, and agreed to take steps to reinforce the usage of local currencies in the region and downgrade dependence on the U.S. dollar or different major international currencies for cross-border trade and investment.
Bank of Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo spoke in April that Indonesia is succeeding the BRICS ’de-dollarization lead. The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are working out a common currency to reduce their dependence on the USD; their leaders plan to discuss this topic at their forthcoming leaders ’ summit.
Numerous people expect a common BRICS currency to erode the U.S. dollar’s dominance, including a former White House economist who warned that if the BRICS nations utilized alone their common currency for international trade, “ they would take off an impediment that presently thwarts their efforts to escape bone hegemony. ” Investment analyst Jon Wolfenbarger cautioned that a successful BRICS currency could result in the U.S. dollar losing its reserve currency status. This would hurt U.S. living norms and lead to less power for the U.S. government.
(Kevin Helms, Bitcoin.com, 2023)