making process...more transparency," he said. Some Asian governments want to turn the web of swaps into a fledgling Asian monetary fund so the region is not dependent on the Western-dominated International Monetary Fund in times of crisis, as was the case in 1997-98. Asia's massive $2.5 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, about two-thirds of the world's total, has given the region more economic and political clout on the global stage. But ADB officials warned that this mountain of hard currency would not always shelter economies from storms such as the Asian crisis in which capital fled the region, wiping away years of development in weeks. The ADB's chief economist said Asia had even allowed its reserves to grow too large. "They have grown far beyond what is (the) optimal level. It's basically a reflection of a lack of imagination, a lack of innovativeness and to some extent a lack of self-confidence," Ifzal Ali told Reuters. --More 2241 Local Time 1941 GMT
