Singapore: Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan today said that ample foreign exchange reserves in Asia was unlikely let the region be hit by another financial crisis similar to the one in 1997.

Despite having stepped down as Federal Reserve Chairman last year Greenspan remains an influential figure in the financial markets.

A participant at a closed-door Merrill Lynch forum in Singapore quoted Greenspan as having said that the Asian region had also pooled a part of their massive reserves to defend against a repeat of the meltdown.

He was basing his views on the fact that Asian central banks currently have adequate reserves compared to a decade ago when several economies were running current account deficits

"The chance of 1997 happening again is virtually non-existent," a forum participant quoted the former US Fed chief as saying.
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Greenspan also referred to an agreement this month by the 10-member ASEAN grouping and Japan, South Korea and China to pool part of their reserves as a shield against a repeat of the 1997 crisis. Under the agreement, the 13 countries will work toward a multi-nation scheme of currency swaps to improve an existing system introduced in 2000.

Asia now holds the bulk of the global foreign reserves at an estimated $2.7 trillion, with China alone having more than $1 trillion.