The Asian financial crisis of 1998 began not in Malaysia, but in Thailand.

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Her predecessor quit rather than impose capital controls that then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad chose to protect the ringgit against speculation at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

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There was rapid accumulation of debt in 1998, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, and then again as expected in 2009, following the global financial crisis.

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In my neighbourhood of Asia, the financial crisis of 1997-1998 brought tremendous pain to many Asian countries, but through austerity and sweeping economic reforms, they recovered relatively quickly and in much better shape.

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