17 Aug 2004

Call for Forum countries to set up regional financial institution

1:44 pm on 17 August 2004

There's been a call for the Forum Island countries to look at setting up a regional financial institution.

Aisake Casimira, the director of Fiji's Ecumenical Centre for Research, Education and Advocacy says international financial institutions have too many conditions attached to their loans.

He says the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank all promote economic reforms which are imposed on countries.

Mr Casimira says a regional institution would offer an alternative.

"If the Forum Island countries come together and say, let's encourage financial lending between countries within the Pacific Islands, say Samoa and Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu - is that a possibility, is that an alternative which developing countries can pursue rather than going all the time to the international financial institutions."

Aisake Casimira.