Monetary Transmissions Immediately after the Crisis in East Asia

Abstract

We examine dynamic patterns of macroeconomic variables in East Asia immediately after the Asian financial crisis. Particularly, focusing on East Asia, we can identify their distinctive features from those of aggregate cross-country results. Also, we check with the financial crises in East Asia in the 1980s in order to make sure to what extent the contrast between the aggregate cross-country results and that of the Asian financial crisis comes from differences in time (external environment) or in country structure or both. Some distinctive features in East Asia include higher real interest rates in the crisis year, persistent output as well as investment slowdown, and different behaviors of trade and fiscal surpluses after the crisis. The results suggest that initial monetary tightening be responsible for the unexpectedly serious recession and that favorable external conditions and fiscal stimulus did contribute to the post-crisis real recovery even without credit recoveries.macroeconomic dynamics, East Asia, financial crisis