Bank of the Lao attends the 12th ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors meeting and backs three Bank Negara Malaysia proposals

The Bank of the Lao reported that Deputy Governor Sulisak Thanuvong led a delegation, alongside Laos’ Ministry of Finance, to the 12th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM) and related meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, held 7–10 April 2025. Discussions centred on challenges to regional financial and monetary cooperation amid increasing complexity and uncertainty affecting ASEAN and ASEAN+3 economies. Representatives from the 10 ASEAN member states, ASEAN+3, Timor-Leste as an observer, the ASEAN Secretariat, and international and regional financial institutions attended. Participants supported initiatives advanced by Malaysia in its role as ASEAN Chair for 2025 to strengthen financial linkages, and central bank leaders endorsed three proposals from Bank Negara Malaysia, including creating a platform for deeper exchanges on monetary policy and exchange rate management with regional and international institutions such as the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office and the International Monetary Fund, promoting more coordinated policy approaches alongside measures to facilitate trade and investment, and endorsing ASEAN+3 arrangements to operationalise a rapid financing instrument for crises linked to natural disasters, alongside efforts to improve ASEAN+3 secretariat operations. The four-day programme concluded with agreement to advance ongoing work on regional macroeconomic monitoring and related initiatives under ASEAN and ASEAN+3 financial and monetary integration.