International financial markets: Instability, trends and prospects

The depth and global ramifications of the East Asian financial crisis which broke out in 1997 have confounded analysts and forecasters, and have been a major cause of more recent periods of extreme volatility in international financial markets. Expectations that the crisis would be confined to the region and that recovery would be relatively rapid have been repeatedly belied by events. By the middle of 1998 it was clear that it was sharply reducing growth rates not only in the directly affected countries but also in most other developing and transition economies. The international liquidity crisis set off by the currency collapse and debt default in the Russian Federation raised the possibility that the full global implications might not yet have been realized. On the other hand, the relatively benign response of financial markets to the later Brazilian currency crisis and the continued rapid growth of some major industrial countries suggest that the repercussions may still be restricted largely to developing countries.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Partnerships for the Goals