Remarks to the US-Korean Twenty-First Century Council Joseph E. Stiglitz Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Development Economics The World Bank May 15, 1998
Outline of the Talk 1. What happened in Korea? 2. Why did it happen? 3. What are the most important issues looking forward?
Forecasts for 1998 GDP Growth SOURCE: IMF Reports and Consensus Forecasts
Unemployment Rate SOURCE: Bank of Korea: AAG2 and AAG3; Bloomberg (March 1998)
Key Aspects of the East Asian Crisis 1. Not public sector profligacy, but private sector borrowing. 2. Not overall indebtedness, but the type of borrowing and use of funds. 3.International investors share responsibility.
Public Sector Balances: Latin America versus East Asia
Inflation: Latin America versus East Asia
Total External Debt-Exports Ratio in 1996 Percent
Short-term Debt-Exports Ratio in 1996 Percent
Office Vacancy Rates, 1996 (% of space vacant) SOURCE: JP Morgan Data and Estimates (projected)
Non-Performing Loans (as a % of total loans) Percent
Spreads on Brady Bonds & U.S. High-Yield Bonds
Foreign Currency Debt Ratings Country June 1996 June 1997 March 1998 IndonesiaBBB B KoreaAA- BB+ MalaysiaA+ PhilippinesBBBB+ ThailandAA BBB- Source: Standard and Poor’s
Usable Reserves SOURCE: Bank of Korea NOTE: Data refers to "official usable foreign reserves", which includes forward contracts.
Bankruptcies SOURCE: Bank of Korea
Stock Market and Exchange Rate SOURCE: Bloomberg
Exports SOURCES: Bank of Korea, Bloomberg (April 1998), IMF International Financial Statistics
Monthly Earnings of Regular Employees SOURCE: Bank of Korea
Overnight Interest Rates SOURCE: Bloomberg