It is of course also likely that Japan had more myopic interests related to its AMF proposal. The quick provision of liquidity for the crisis-hit countries through an AMF could have benefited Japan. It had strong economic ties with those countries through bank loans, foreign direct investment, and trade, and a full-blown crisis could have seriously hurt many of its banks and firms.22 However, if such economic interests had been Japan’s sole motivation, it could have used the IMF. It should also be noted that many Japanese banks and firms were opposed to the AMF proposal. In addition, such myopic economic interests cannot explain why Japan has strongly supported the CMI, which it hopes will eventually develop into an AMF, even after economic recovery in the crisis-hit countries.