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The East Asian Financial Crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of Asia beginning in the summer of (July) 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown (financial contagion). It is also commonly referred to as the East Asian currency crisis or locally as the IMF crisis.

The crisis started in Thailand with the financial collapse of the Thai baht, and affected currencies, stock markets, and other asset prices in a number of Asian countries. Most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock markets, and a precipitous rise in private debt.

There has been general agreement on the existence of a crisis and its consequences, but what is less clear were the causes of the crisis, its scope and resolution. Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines were also fairly hurt by the slump. Mainland China, India, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam were relatively unaffected. Japan was not much affected by this crisis but was going through its own long-term economic difficulties. However, all of these Asian countries saw their currencies fall significantly relative to the United States dollar, though the harder hit nations saw extended currency losses.

Although most of the governments of Asia had no national debt and seemingly sound fiscal policies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was forced to initiate a $40 billion program to stabilize the currencies of South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, whose economies were hit particularly hard by the crisis. In Japan, shortly after the government announced that the country was officially in a recession, the United States intervened to stop a precipitous slide in the value of the yen by agreeing to buy some $2 billion worth of the Japanese currency. In doing so, the United States hoped to increase the value of the yen, which had fallen to its lowest point in some eight years.

The efforts to stem a global economic crisis did little to stabilize the domestic situation in Indonesia, however. After 30 years in power, President Suharto was forced to step down in May 1998 in the wake of widespread rioting that followed sharp price increases caused by a drastic devaluation of the rupiah. The effects of the crisis lingered through 1998. By 1999, however, analysts saw signs that the economies of Asia were beginning to recover.