Establishment of a New Facility in the Existing Japan Special Fund to Assist Currency Crisis-Affected Member Countries

Abstract

The Government of Japan has launched a plan to assist affected countries of Asia in the alleviation of and recovery from the financial crisis that was precipitated by the currency turmoil in mid-1997; this plan is commonly referred to as the New Miyazawa Initiative. As part of that overall plan, the Government of Japan is proposing the establishment of a Special Fund, described as an Asian currency crisis support facility (the Facility) to be administered by the Asian Development Bank. This will complement the Bank’s assistance to crisis affected member countries (CAMCs) by helping to mobilize cofinancing/private financial resources for projects and programs in the CAMCs. This paper describes in further detail the Facility as proposed by the Government of Japan; outlines the agreed framework, objectives, scope, modalities, and management procedures of the existing JSF; and makes recommendations on the arrangements necessary to enable the JSF to include the Facility as a special-purpose component.