South east asian finansial crisis

Financial Crisis in Southeast Asia

As early as 1997 Asian currencies experienced intense market pressures, stock markets suffered heavy sell-offs and a major regional financial crisis followed. It started in Thailand and spread with alarming speed to most of its neighbors in East Asia, then to Russia and Latin America. Terms such as "infection" and "contagion" were used early on to describe the "malignant" spread of collapsing currencies and economic turmoil which followed the collapse of the Thai baht in July 1997.

Millions were thrown into poverty, bankruptcies mushroomed, stock markets plummeted and in Indonesia's case, economic disaster helped topple the government, ending the 32 year reign of President Suharto.The float and devaluation of the Thai currency, the baht saw investors abandon it and exposed the weaknesses in the debt-ridden banking system. Many businesses were unable to repay their debts and defaulted on their loans, causing more problems for the banks. The gove...