The Economic Crisis and Financial Sector Restructuring in Thailand
The Economic Crisis and Financial Sector Restructuring in Thailand Masahiro Kawai and Ken-ichi Takayasu Masahiro Kawai is Chief Economist, East Asia and Pacific, World Bank. Ken-ichi Takayasu is Senior Economist, Center for Pacific Business Studies, Sakura Institute of Research, Tokyo, Japan. 38 A STUDY OF FINANCIAL MARKETS Introduction ○○○○○○○○○ • Resolve nonviable and problem financial inst- itutions. The economic crisis in Thailand was triggered by • Strengthen the financial sector structure. the baht devaluation in July 1997 and aggravated by • Enhance the regulatory and supervisory regime. the underlying weaknesses of the country’s financial Most of the reform efforts in 1997-1999 focused ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ system and corporate sector. Prior to the crisis, on the first objective, including resolving the assets Thailand had embarked on a comprehensive liberal- and liabilities of the 56 closed finance companies, ization of domestic financial markets and capital restructuring and recapitalizing troubled commercial account transactions. As a result, financial institutions banks, and resolving bank nonperforming loans began to enjoy a more liberal economic environment, (NPLs). including increased business opportunities with the In addition to financial system reform, Thailand corporate and household sectors as well as favorable also focused on corporate sector reform in order to funding terms from domestic and foreign sources. resolve serious corporate debt overhang and to create However, Thailand’s financial system was not a robust corporate sector, thereby helping restore sufficiently sound or resilient to cope with problems financial system health. The reform strategy included created by large inflows of deposits and foreign funds (i) accelerating corporate debt restructuring, (ii) as well as the subsequent expansion of domestic strengthening corporate insolvency procedures, and credit.
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