Key facts
- Philippines central bank governor Eli Remolona warned Asia to guard against a repeat of the 1997 financial crisis.
- Remolona stated that the region needs to "remind ourselves about that" past crisis and "guard against that kind of crisis."
- He noted that "we have not really been making a lot of effort looking at that kind of crisis."
- IMF Asia and Pacific Department Director Krishna Srinivasan argued that the IMF has made progress in assessing financial vulnerabilities.
- Srinivasan also pointed to ASEAN economies' energy intensity as a risk due to reliance on oil and gas imports.
- Japan's vice finance minister Atsushi Mimura cited Middle East energy shocks and inflation as short-term risks.
Asian countries must remain vigilant against a recurrence of the financial crisis that began in the late 1990s, according to Eli Remolona, the governor of the Philippines central bank. Speaking at an IMF panel in Bangkok, Remolona recalled the "East Asian miracle" period before the 1997 crisis, when huge capital inflows preceded the shock, suggesting that insufficient effort is being made to prevent similar events.