HK moves to stem speculation

HONG KONG finance officials are to call on international organisations - including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - to take co-ordinated action against the currency speculators who have wreaked havoc in the emerging markets in recent months.

At a briefing in London called to explain its unprecedented intervention in the financial markets, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) said: "We need to strike a balance in the rules of the game."