Asian governments are planning to accelerate the implementation of a regional currency swap scheme, increasing its size to $80bn (€60bn, £46bn), and expanding its scope in response to the global financial crisis.

However, Indonesian, Singaporean and South Korean officials said proposals did not involve the creation of a new fund to buy toxic debt and help regional banks hit by the crisis, as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of the Philippines, suggested on Wednesday.