Malaysia Ex-Central Bank Chief Recalls 1997 Crisis Lessons: Q&A

Twenty years ago, Malaysia was caught up in the turmoil of a currency crisis that began in Thailand and swept across Asia, battering economies, pushing millions into poverty and forcing governments to seek emergency bailouts.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz, who was chief economist of Malaysia’s central bank at the time -- later becoming governor -- recalls her experience of the crisis, including having to implement policies that went against the conventional economic wisdom of the time, such as pegging the currency and imposing capital controls on foreign investors.