Financial Liberalization in Asia: Analysis and Prospects

Rapid globalization has brought substantial benefits to developing Asia, but it has also heightened the risks associated with policy mistakes, weak financial institutions, and problems in corporate and public governance. The 1997 Asian crisis demonstrated the urgent need to rethink the sequencing and comprehensiveness of financial liberalization. Would further opening of Asia's financial systems be helpful or counterproductive in fostering financial stability? What structural reforms do emerging economies need to undertake to ensure that capital inflows are transformed into productive investment? Which regulatory and other requirements would have to be attached to further financial liberalization? And what role should international organizations and the private sector play in crisis resolution? This volume provides answers to these questions by discussing the roots of the Asian financial crisis and suggesting several constructive approaches to crisis resolution. It is produced jointly by the Asian Development Bank and OECD Development Centre based on their fourth joint annual Forum on Asian Perspectives.