Bankruptcy Looms For This BRIC Nation -- Here's What To Avoid: ILF, PBR, VALE

In early 1997, the world was in awe of the record growth of Southeast Asia's "tiger economies" as markets opened and foreign investors rushed to fund new ventures.

However, by January 1998, stock markets across the region had lost as much as 70% of their value, and the crisis had spread to the rest of the emerging world. Even behemoth Russia wasn't immune, defaulting on its debt that same year.

Such massive and rapid growth relied on a constant influx of dollars to fund deficits and pay higher amounts of foreign debt. At the first sign of economic cracks, foreign investors withdrew their accounts, leading to a plunge in currencies and leaving the region's governments unable to pay debt denominated in now more expensive dollars. (more)

Please share this article