Since July 1997, a Southeast Asian financial crisis broke out that started in Thailand and then quickly spread to the entire Southeast Asian industry and the world. The foreign exchange and stock markets of many Southeast Asian countries and regions plummeted in turn, and the financial system and even the entire social economy were affected.

Seriously traumatized, in only half a year from July 1997 to January 1998, the currencies of most countries and regions in Southeast Asia depreciated by as much as 30% to 50%, with the highest devaluation of the Indonesian rupiah reaching more than 70%.

Same period.

The stock markets in these countries and regions fell by 30% to 60%.

It is estimated that during this financial crisis, the economic losses caused by the decline in foreign exchange and stock markets alone to Southeast Asian countries and regions amounted to more than 100 billion U.S. dollars.

Affected by the sharp decline in the foreign exchange market and stock market.

These countries and regions have experienced severe economic recessions.

The crisis first started with the devaluation of the Thai baht on July 2, 1997.

Thailand was forced to decouple the baht from the U.S. dollar.

Implement a floating exchange rate system.

When the Thai baht exchange rate plummeted 20%.

Countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, which share the same economic problems as Thailand, were quickly hit hard by the depreciation of the baht.

On July 11, the Philippines announced it would allow the peso to become more convertible against the U.S. dollar, when the peso devalued by 11.5%.

On the same day, Malaysia raised bank interest rates to prevent further depreciation of the ringgit.

Indonesia was forced to abandon its currency against the U.S. dollar, with the rupiah devaluing by 14% between July 2 and 14.

Following the financial turmoil in Thailand and other ASEAN countries, Taiwan's Taiwan stock market devalued and the stock market fell, setting off the second wave of the financial crisis. On October 17, the Taiwan stock market depreciated by 0.98 yuan, reaching NT$29.5 per U.S. dollar, a record high in the past millennium.

A new low, correspondingly, the Taiwan stock market fell 165.55 points that day, October 20.

The Taiwan dollar fell to 30.45 yuan per US dollar.

The Taiwan stock market fell another 301.67 points.

Taiwan's currency depreciation and stock market crash not only further exacerbated the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, but also triggered a sharp decline in the U.S. stock market, among others.

On October 27, the U.S. Dow Jones Index plummeted to 554.26 points, forcing the New York Stock Exchange to use a trading suspension system for the first time in nine years. On October 28, the stock markets of Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand fell by 4.4%, 7.6%, and 7.6% respectively.

6.6%, 6.7% and 6.3%.

In particular, the Hong Kong stock market was affected by external shocks. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 765.33 points and 1,200 points respectively on October 21 and 27, and fell another 1,400 points on October 28. The cumulative decline of these three major Hong Kong stock markets exceeded 25%.

In late November, South Korea's foreign exchange market and stock market fell in turn, forming the third wave of the financial crisis.

In November, the exchange rate of the Korean won continued to fall. In the first half hour of the opening of the market on November 20, it plummeted 10%, hitting a new low of 1,139 won against the U.S. dollar. By the end of November, the exchange rate of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar had fallen by 30%, and the Korean stock market fell.

Also more than 20%.

At the same time, the financial crisis in Japan has further deepened. In November, several banks and securities companies in Japan went bankrupt or closed down. The Japanese yen also fell below the 130 yen mark against the US dollar, depreciating 17.03% from the beginning of the year.

Beginning in January 1998, the focus of the Southeast Asian financial crisis shifted to Indonesia, forming the fourth wave of financial crises.

On January 8, the exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah against the US dollar plummeted 26%.

On January 12, Hong Kong Peregrine Investment Company, which was engaged in huge investment business in Indonesia, announced its liquidation.

On the same day, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeted 773.58 points, and Singapore, Taiwan, and Japanese stocks fell 102.88 points, 362 points, and 330.66 points respectively.

It was not until early February that the worsening financial crisis in Southeast Asia was initially contained.

PS: External factors---Analysis of the speculative behavior of Soros, the international speculator and financial tycoon, March 3, 1997.

The Central Bank of Thailand announced that nine domestic finance companies and one housing loan company had problems with low asset quality and insufficient liquidity.

Soros and his men believed that this was a hint of deeper problems that might arise in Thailand's financial system, so they preemptively ordered the sale of stocks in Thai banks and financial companies, and depositors withdrew large amounts of money from all financial and securities companies in Thailand.

At this time, Western impact funds headed by Soros, who were waiting for a large number of Southeast Asian currencies, jointly sold the Thai baht. Under the siege of many Western "heroes", the Thai baht was unable to resist for a while and continued to decline. In May, it jumped to a minimum of 1 US dollar.

26.70 baht.

The Central Bank of Thailand devoted all its efforts to launching an anti-encirclement and suppression campaign against Soros in mid-to-late May, aiming to break Soros's will and make him retreat in the face of difficulties and no longer lead the crowd to attack the Thai baht group.

In the first step, the Central Bank of Thailand formed a coalition with Singapore and spent about 12 billion U.S. dollars to absorb Thai money. In the second step, it followed Mahathir's strategy and tactics in 1994 and used an executive order to strictly prohibit local banks from lending Thai money to the demand.

The third step is to significantly raise interest rates, with overnight interest rates rising from about 10% to 1,000 to 1,500%.

A three-pronged approach, cutting-edge weapons, and powerful counterattack caused Taimo to rise to a new high of 2520 on May 20.

Due to the sudden tightening of money, interest costs increased significantly, which caught Soros's army off guard, resulting in a loss of US$300 million and a blow.

However, Soros is still Soros.