What name is given to the 1997–1998 financial crisis that began after Thailand devalued its baht?

The 1997–1998 financial crisis that began after Thailand devalued its baht is called the Asian financial crisis.

Thailand abandoned the baht’s peg to the U.S. dollar on July 2, 1997, after heavy pressure on its foreign-exchange reserves. The baht then lost substantial value, and investors reassessed other Asian economies that had similar currency arrangements, high private borrowing, or large current-account deficits.

Contagion spread to Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Falling currencies made dollar-denominated debts more expensive to repay, while collapsing asset prices damaged banks and businesses. The crisis also reached Russia and contributed to stress in global markets, including the failure of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998.

The International Monetary Fund arranged assistance programs for several affected countries, though the conditions attached to those programs were heavily debated. The crisis is sometimes called the “Asian flu,” but “Asian financial crisis” is the standard historical term and does not mean that every Asian economy experienced the same severity.