For the first time in nearly three decades, there’s real momentum behind an Asian challenger to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But without a radical departure from the existing model, critics are clear that adding more IMFs isn’t the answer.

Malaysia’s prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, publicly announced Chinese support for a regional fund that was first floated by Japan in 1997 in the wake of financial crisis in East Asia. If it succeeds, it could be a real alternative for nations that currently seek emergency funds from the IMF — an institution dominated by US and European interests.

Still, there’s little to indicate that the Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) would be any different from the behemoth it seeks to challenge. “Based on the way Asian leaders are talking about the AMF, it seems that ideologically it doesn’t diverge from the neoliberal mode of thinking,” says Mae Buenaventura, a campaigner and program manager at the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development.