Malaysian stimulus bigger than Singapore

Malaysian stimulus bigger than Singapore

Malaysia has a bigger stimulus package than Singapore, as this Wall Street Journal map shows. While Malaysia is spending $18.5 billion or 9.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), Singapore is spending $13.6 billion or 8 percent of its GDP. In GDP terms, Singapore has the third biggest stimulus package in the region, smaller only than China's and Malaysia's.

South Korea has the second biggest stimulus package in absolute terms, worth $53.1 billion, but in GDP terms it is the fourth biggest, at 6.8 percent.

China is spending $586 billion or 12 percent of its GDP.

The East Asia Summit beginning in Thailand this week will try to boost the region through regional cooperation.

But there is already trouble with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's car attacked by demonstrators in Pattaya yesterday as he was leaving a cabinet meeting there. The demonstrators smashed the rear window but didn't cause any serious injuries, says the Wall Street Journal.

Is Singapore's Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam attending the regional finance ministers' meeting due to be held today? The Bangkok Post and the Nation are reporting mass anti-government protests by Thaksin's Red Shirts.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Diplomats and economic analysts predict China, in particular, will attempt to shore up its growing clout on the global stage at the three-day regional leaders' meeting, which begins Friday at the Pattaya beach resort. Topics up for discussion include plans to lessen dependence on exports to the West by broadening regional free-trade agreements. The leaders also will discuss how to release funds from a proposed emergency cash stockpile valued at $120 billion.

China and Japan have indicated they will contribute the bulk of the funds to the planned $120 billion emergency fund, known as the Chiang Mai initiative.

The summit kicks off with regional finance ministers meeting on Wednesday before leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet their counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea and India, beginning on Friday. They will be joined by leaders from Australia and New Zealand on Sunday for the broader East Asia Summit.

The heads of the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization and Asian Development Bank will also be in Thailand for a separate global dialogue with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The regional summit was supposed to take place last year but was postponed because of long-running political conflicts in Thailand, which saw Bangkok's international airports taken over by antigovernment protesters. The newly formed government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva last month decided to host the East Asia summit in Pattaya, rather than Bangkok, to decrease chances it would be disrupted by protests. Pattaya, known for its racy nightlife, is about 150 kilometers southeast of the Thai capital.

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