国际英语新闻：Asian central bankers see U.S. cushion

BEIJING, March. 23 -- Intra-regional trade within Asia and domestic demand will help reduce the effects of a United States slowdown, while continued efforts to diversify financial markets may also soften the impact, according to South East Asian central bankers.

    Growth in the U.S. is projected to slow because of the continuing fallout from turmoil in the country's subprime mortgage market, the central bankers, known as the SEACEN Governors, said yesterday in a joint statement after a two-day meeting in Jakarta.

    Even so, support from domestic demand among Asian economies has enabled "greater intra-regional trade," Heng Swee Keat, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told Bloomberg News after the meeting. "The fundamentals in most economies are better than they were in previous recessions."

Indonesia's Central bank governor Burhanuddin Abdullah gives a speech during the opening ceremony of the 43rd Southeast Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Governors Conference in Jakarta March 21, 2008. SEACEN will discuss financial market uncertainly and dollar weakness at a two-day central bankers' meeting in Jakarta, Indonesian central bank officials said on Friday.(

    The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to help avert a recession in the world's largest economy, amid its worst housing slump in 16 years. The U.S. is Asia's biggest export market.

    The move to reduce dependence on the U.S. "is a work in progress," said Suhaimi Ilias, an economist at Aseambankers Malaysia Bhd. The central banks "are hoping that intra-regional trade will provide some buffer against the likely slowing down in exports to the U.S. and Europe."

    Stronger financial markets that result in better risk diversification will also help economies absorb external shocks, the central bankers said in the statement. More than 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars has been wiped out from stock markets this year amid concerns global growth will slow.

    The SEACEN Governors include central banks from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, South Korea, Mongolia, Fiji, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.