The Japan Ministry of Finance published the joint statement from the 29th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, which endorsed an updated strategic direction for the ASEAN+3 Finance Process and set out a package of measures on regional financial safety nets, market development and disaster risk financing. The statement also warned that the escalation of conflict in the Middle East has significantly increased downside risks to the regional outlook, with higher oil and gas prices, tighter global financial conditions and renewed volatility in capital flows and exchange rates expected to moderate growth and raise inflation. On the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation, members called for swift completion of domestic procedures to sign the amended CMIM Agreement so that the Rapid Financing Facility can enter into force, and endorsed a roadmap for discussions on a new financing structure that would add a paid-in capital element. They noted agreement on three key principles for the paid-in capital legal entity, tasked Deputies to reach consensus on the remaining governance principle and narrow design options, and asked the technical working group to explore the institutional details. Members also endorsed a regular three-year review cycle for the CMIM USD margin from 2027 and for IMF De-linked Portion readiness reviews from 2027, and said the 17th CMIM test run later in 2026 will include actual fund transfers under the CMIM Stability Facility IMF De-linked Portion. Separately, they agreed to evolve the Asian Bond Markets Initiative into the Asian Bond and Financial Markets Initiative under the next roadmap, while keeping local currency bond market development as its anchor. The statement also endorsed the Disaster Risk Financing Initiative Roadmap 2026–2028 and welcomed the transfer of the permanent DRFI secretariat function to the Asian Development Bank from 1 August 2026. SEADRIF’s SAFE Facility is due to be presented in full in 2026 and is targeted for launch in 2027. On future work, Deputies were instructed, with AMRO support, to agree by the end of 2026 on modalities for deeper cooperation on cross-border digital payments, including possible establishment of a dedicated working group covering retail and wholesale payment connectivity and regulatory approaches to stablecoin. The next ABFMI medium-term roadmap and assessment report are expected to go to Deputies by the end of 2026 and then to ministers and governors in 2027.
Ministry of Finance (Japan) 2026-05-03
Japan Ministry of Finance publishes ASEAN+3 joint statement endorsing CMIM rapid financing steps and ABMI expansion into ABFMI
Japan’s Ministry of Finance released the joint statement from the 29th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, which endorsed an updated strategic direction for the ASEAN+3 Finance Process and measures on regional financial safety nets, market development and disaster risk financing, while warning that Middle East tensions pose downside risks to the regional outlook. Key decisions include advancing reforms to the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation, evolving the Asian Bond Markets Initiative into the Asian Bond and Financial Markets Initiative, endorsing the Disaster Risk Financing Initiative Roadmap 2026–2028 with the Asian Development Bank as permanent secretariat, and tasking Deputies to develop modalities for deeper cooperation on cross-border digital payments, including potential work on stablecoin.