Macroeconomic performance and policies

As 1997 ended, the financial and the currency crisis that started in the middle of the year in Thailand deepened and engulfed a number of other countries in South-East Asia, and the Republic of Korea. The crisis appeared to have brought an abrupt halt to the economic upsurge that these countries had been experiencing since 1987. Economic data for 1997 lacked firmness; available indications suggested that economic growth for the most affected countries would remain at a respectable level in 1997 largely owing to strong performance in the first half, though sharply reduced from their previous annual growth rates of 8 to 10 per cent. Thailand is the only country in which growth seemed to have stopped completely. Forecasts even for the short-term future remained clouded in uncertainty as the volatility in the region’s financial and currency markets persisted.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities