China is the same old game

BEIJING (Reuters) - That warm glow and soft purring emanating from South Korea was the International Monetary Fund trying, yet again, to put the Asian financial crisis behind it.

The IMF needs Asia on its side. As the fastest-growing part of the world economy, the region will wield more clout at global institutions like the IMF and provide more of their funding.

The problem, to put it bluntly, is that Asia does not need the IMF or like the IMF, whose invasive policy prescriptions are blamed in the region for having exacerbated the 1997/98 meltdown.

The most striking imbalance in Asia is that it saves too much, and a major reason for that thriftiness is beyond the control of governments: the bulk of Asians are in their prime working years when people salt away money for their old age.

But policymakers could do much more to promote more balanced growth, for example by building social safety nets to lessen the need to save for a rainy day, allowing currency appreciation and reducing corporate savings.