Tokyo  - Japan and Indonesia signed an agreement on bilateral currency swap to increase the amount from 6 billion dollars to 12 billion dollars under an initiative to stabilize the financial state of the South-east Asian region, Japanese Finance Ministry said Monday.

Under the agreement, Indonesia would be able to swap rupiah worth up to 12 billion dollars when short-term liquidity support is needed.

The Chiang Mai Initiative was first introduced in the region in 2000 to allow the members of Association of South-East Asian Nations and Japan, China and South Korea to swap currencies on a bilateral basis among one another.

The scheme was aimed at averting a financial crisis similar to the 1997-98 currency collapses in Asia. (dpa)