May 31, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

COLOMBO, May 30: South Asian central bankers began a two-day meeting on Thursday aiming to streamline monetary dealings between their countries, but with the cost of a war between India and Pakistan never far from their minds.

Central bank officials from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka gathered in Sri Lanka’s capital to swap ideas on how to rein in budget deficits, keep inflation under wraps and improve the region’s allure to foreign investors.

But talk on the sidelines of the conference was dominated by the economic threat to the region of any escalation in the military stand-off between India and Pakistan.

“We all hope that there will be no major crisis, no war and therefore there will be no economic impact,” Bangladesh Bank Governor Fakhruddin Ahamed said.—Reuters