A major money problem hit East and Southeast Asia in the late 1990s. It began in Thailand in July 1997. The problem quickly spread, causing fears of a global economic crisis. Luckily, economies started to recover rapidly by 1999. In Thailand, the government could not keep its currency, the baht, stable. It ran out of foreign money needed to keep the baht tied to the U.S. dollar. This caused international investors to pull their money out quickly.
Countries like South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia were hit very hard. Their currencies lost much value, and stock markets fell sharply. Many businesses failed, and private debt became very high.
The International Monetary Fund offered a big $40 billion aid program. In Indonesia, the crisis led to widespread riots and a president resigning. After this time, Asian countries started working together more closely. A big reason for the crisis was that economies grew too fast with borrowed money. This created "economic bubbles" that were not stable and eventually burst.
