Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has called for the establishment on an East Asian Monetary Fund (EMF) prescribing 'Sinatra-style' economics. Rather than be bound by the International Monetary Fund's rigid 'one remedy fits all' policies, Dr Mahathir said an EMF would enable Asians to do it their way. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) East Asia summit, Dr Mahathir said Asia's former economic tigers had proved that good growth can be attained via a variety of approaches and political systems. 'We have achieved whatever we have achieved according to the Sinatra principle. We've all done it our own way,' Dr Mahathir said. There was no single text book formula, he said. Dr Mahathir's proposed EMF would vary slightly to the Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) idea earlier mooted by Japan after the regional crisis erupted in 1997. At the time Tokyo's proposal was brusquely shot down by among others, the United States and the IMF. EMF membership would initially be limited to East Asia, rather than all of Asia as seen for the AMF. It would be 'a small, compact, wholly regional funding organisation which would be deeply and constantly engaged in East Asian monetary co-operation and problems on a daily basis', Malaysia's prime minister said. It would better understand Asia and be more sympathetic to Asian ways, he said. Dr Mahathir asserted that had a multilateral Asian monetary fund organisation existed 'the currency crisis would not have occurred, would not have endured and would not have gone to such ridiculous depths'. IMF deputy managing director Stanley Fischer yesterday knocked Dr Mahathir's proposal, arguing that the IMF's tight fiscal and monetary policies during the crisis had been right. Mr Fischer said: 'I don't believe there is different economies for this region than any other region. 'I think it is an illusion to believe that. 'The rules for economics are the same everywhere.' Mr Fischer said if an EMF had existed in 1997 and tried to defend the region's currency pegs against speculative onslaught, its funds would have been quickly exhausted. Dr Mahathir said Malaysia's controversial imposition of selective capital controls in September last year stood testament to the fact that alternative economic approaches can work. Though many forecast Malaysia's controls would be 'a spectacular failure', Dr Mahathir said critics had been proved wrong. He said Malaysia's economy had emerged from recession stronger and faster than anyone expected, its foreign reserves had risen 60 per cent, and the IMF itself was now forecasting 6.8 per cent growth next year. WEF