Malaysian economic crisis: causes, effects, recovery actions, and lessons learned

Abstract

Malaysia and several East Asian economies have been caught in the grip of the currency crisis that started in July 1997. At the start of the crisis, Malaysia adopted a tight fiscal and monetary policy in response of the economic environment prevailing at that time it was obvious that the initial policy package resulted in severe economic contraction and deterioration in the health of the financial system. In response, the Government unveiled the National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP) which recommended a complete reversal of key policies. The NERP called for an easing of fiscal and monetary policy, an increase in government spending, corporate debt restructuring, and establishment of special vehicles to purchase and recapitalize non-performing loans from banking institutions. On September 1, 1998 the Government introduced capital controls and pegged the exchange rate to the US dollar, in order to insulate the domestic interest rate from continuing pressure and volatility in the foreign exchange market. This thesis explores the measures taken by the Malaysian Government to cope with recent economic crisis and describes the effects and lessons learned. The proper implementation of the selective capital control has given Malaysia a breathing space to pursue its on -going economic related programs.