Financial Liberalisation and the South Korean Financial Crisis: An Analysis of Expert Opinion

摘要

This paper presents insights into the South Korean financial crisis using a unique survey of IMF/World Bank officials and South Korean economists who had first-hand experience of the crisis. The survey reveals that financial liberalisation, over-optimism and moral hazard, combined with weaknesses in prudential regulation, resulted in increased risk-taking by banks. The latter manifested itself in the form of maturity mismatches between foreign-currency denominated assets and liabilities.