ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO)
Macroeconomic surveillance organisation for the 14 ASEAN+3 economies
About
The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) is the regional macroeconomic surveillance organisation for the ASEAN member states plus China, Hong Kong (China), Japan and Korea. ASEAN+3 finance ministers set it up in Singapore in 2011 as a company limited by guarantee. It became an international organisation when the AMRO Agreement entered into force in 2016.
AMRO has three core functions: surveillance of member economies, support for the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (the region's financial safety net), and technical assistance. It is overseen by an Executive Committee of ASEAN+3 deputy finance ministers and deputy central bank governors. Yasuto Watanabe has been Director since May 2025, and Dong He is Chief Economist.
Since late 2025 AMRO has published a series of papers and blogs on stablecoins. They warn that wider use of US dollar stablecoins could speed up currency substitution, weaken monetary policy and make capital flows harder to manage. AMRO recommends clear rules for foreign-currency stablecoins, cautious exploration of local-currency tokens, and a system anchored in central bank money. Later work argues that regulators should look beyond issuer reserves to whether local users can actually convert tokens into cash, using onshore exchanges and payment firms as control points.
Policy engagement
Publishes analysis on stablecoins for ASEAN+3, warning that dollar stablecoins risk currency substitution and weaker monetary policy, and urging clear rules for foreign tokens while cautiously exploring local-currency ones.
Source: AMRO: Stablecoin: Implications for the ASEAN+3 Region
Key actions
Co-hosted the 10th Joint Regional Financing Arrangements Research Seminar in Singapore, which examined stablecoins, tokenised deposits, CBDCs and cross-border payments.
SourcePublished a Policy Perspectives paper arguing that stablecoin oversight in recipient economies should focus on retail convertibility and onshore control points, not just issuer reserves.
SourceChief Economist Dong He set out a layered monetary system in which stablecoins act as supplementary settlement tools backed by 100 per cent high-quality liquid reserves.
SourcePublished Stablecoin: Implications for the ASEAN+3 Region, warning of currency substitution risks and urging clear rules for foreign-currency stablecoins.
SourceDirector Yasuto Watanabe flagged stablecoin risks to AML controls, capital controls and monetary sovereignty in a blog on regional cross-border payments.
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