The Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, Cures and Systemic Implications » (1st Edition)

The turmoil that has rocked Asian markets since the middle of 1997, and that is now having such deep effects on the economies in the region, is the third major currency crisis of the 1990s. This study explains how the Asian crisis arose and spread. It then outlines the corrective policy measures that could help end the crisis, and the shortcomings that have been revealed in the international financial system that require reform to reduce the chances of a recurrence.

In analyzing the origins of the crisis, the author emphasizes three interrelated sets of factors: financial sector weaknesses in Asian emerging economies along with easy global liquidity conditions; mounting concerns about external sector problems in these countries; and contagion of financial pressures from Thailand (both around and beyond the region).

The discussion of policy initiatives to help end the crisis focuses, inter alia, on: restructuring and reform of financial sectors and prudential oversight in Asia itself; on fiscal policies and measures to deal with the bad loan problem in Japan; on exchange rate policy; and on the design and effectiveness of IMF-led official rescue packages.