Malaysian Second Finance Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said a reform of the international financial structure was hampered by the reluctance of developed countries to curtail the activities of currency speculators.
He said many developed countries still would not accept the fact that currency speculators were the cause of the financial turmoil which swept through the region in mid-1997.

"They keep defending the interest of the (currency) speculators. They are unable to accept the fact that the speculators are the cause of the turmoil.

"They said the cause of the turmoil was due to inherent weaknesses of the countries affected, citing cronyism, nepotism and faulty policies," he said.

Speaking to reporters before a religious talk here on Thursday night, Mustapa said the developed countries' arguments were flawed because Malaysia had achieved spectacular growth for about 10 years prior to the crisis.

"The growth would not be possible if our policies are faulty or we practised cronyism and nepotism," he said.

Mustapa said developed countries, however, concurred with Malaysia on the need for greater transparency among currency speculators and hedge funds.

"We wanted some kind of control, directly or indirectly, over the speculators but what was agreed upon was only for greater transparency. Even that, no concrete action has been taken," he added.