Event

In the twenty years since the Asian Financial Crisis began in 1997, the countries of  East Asia (ASEAN+3) have built the largest regional emergency liquidity fund in the world, the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM). ASEAN+3 states have pledged a total of US$240 billion to aid member states facing a currency crisis, which for most members far exceeds the funds they could access from the International Monetary Fund. Nonetheless, CMIM continues to be functionally subordinate to decisions made by the IMF. This may now be changing, as the ASEAN+3 members have been seeking to institutionalise crucial aspects of the CMIM, including surveillance, policy dialogue and decisions on disbursement. This seminar will offer a preliminary assessment of those efforts to date, and address both the next steps and the long-term potential of CMIM as a bulwark for financial stability in East Asia.

Professor Grimes is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, where he has taught since 1996. He previously served as chair of the Department of International Relations and as the first director of the BU Center for the Study of Asia. Professor Grimes has spent time as a visiting researcher at the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan, and several universities in Japan and Australia. He is an active lecturer in Japan and the United States in both academic and policy venues and has been recognized for his teaching and advising at Boston University.  Professor Grimes is committed to policy-relevant research and works regularly with government officials and financial professionals, particularly from the United States and Japan.

Issues in Contemporary East Asia colloquium series