The Followings are abstracts from Reuters News, for your pleasure reading.

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January 23 Leading South Korean steel maker Hanbo Steel Corp defaults on loans, the first of a string of major corporate failure in 1997.
May 14 Thailand’s baht currency comes under attack by speculators who decided Thailand’s slowing economy and political instability meant it was time to sell. Thailand and Singapore jointly intervene to defend the baht.

The Phillippines is affected. The central bank raises the overnight rate 1-3/4 percentage points to 13 percent and dumps dollars.
June 19 Amnuay Viravan, staunchly against devaluing the baht, resigns as Thai finance minister. The resignation has immediate impact in the Philippines, where the overnight deposit rate rises to 15 percent.
June 27 Thai central bank suspends operations of 16 cash-strapped finance companies and orders them to submit merger or consolidation plans.
June 30 Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yonchaiyudh assures the nation in a televised address there will be no devaluation of the baht.
July 2 The Asia nightmare starts. After a failed defence of the Thai baht, the Bank of Thailand announces a managed float of the baht and calls on the International Monetary Fund for "technical assistance". The announcement effectively devalues the baht by about 15-20%. It ends at a record low of 28.80 to the dollar.
In Manila, the central bank is forced to intervene heavily to defend the peso.
July 8 Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara, has to intervene aggressively to defend the ringgit.
In Indonesia, the rupiah starts to crumble. Jakarta widens its rupiah trading band to 12% from 8%.
July 14 The IMF offers the Philippines almost $1.1 billion in financial support under fast-track regulations drawn up after the 1995 Mexican crisis.
July 24 Asian currency meltdown. The rupiah, baht, ringgit and peso all slump, as confidence in the region rapidly deteriorates. Around this time the Singapore dollar starts a gradual decline.
August 11 In Tokyo the IMF unveils a rescue package for Thailand including loans of $16 billion from the IMF and Asian nations.
August 14 Indonesia abolishes its system of a managed exchange rate. The rupiah plunges.
August 20 IMF approves a $3.9 billion credit for Thailand. Brunei later adds $500 million to the bailout package, bringing it to a total of $17.2 billion.
October 6 Rupiah hits a low of 3,845.
Russia and London Club sign agreement rescheduling roughly $33 billion of debts over 25 years with seven years grace, dated from December 1995.
October 8 Indonesia says it will ask the IMF for financial assistance.
October 20-23 The Hongkong stock market suffers its heaviest drubbing ever, shedding nearly a quarter of its value in four days on uncertainty over the Hongkong dollar. The Hang Seng index plunges 24% to 10,426.30 by Thursday’s close, after 13,601.01 the previous Friday.
Around this time, the South Korea won also begins to slump rapidly in value.
October 27 Asian jitters spill over on to world stock markets. The Dow plunges 554 points, its largest single-day point loss ever. Hongkong stock market continue to plunge further from speculators short selling.
October 31 Indonesia’s IMF package is unveiled. It provides for as much as $40 billion in aid, although the front-line defence is $23 billion.
November 1 Indonesia shuts down 16 troubled banks
November 5 IMF approves a $10 billion loan for Indonesia as part of the massive international package.
November 17 Korea abandons its defence of the won, which rapidly falls to 1,000 to the dollar.
December 4 IMF approves a $21 billion loan for South Korea, part of a bail-out package that will total nearly $60 billion.
December 8 Thailand closes 56 of 58 previously suspended finance companies.

 
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January 6 Indonesia unveils its 1998/99 budget projecting an increase of 32.1 percent growth in revenue and expenditure over the current budget and a four percent economic growth rate. The rupiah loses half its value against the dollar over five days, breaking through the 10,000 to the dollar level, before a slight recovery. The free fall is triggered by perceptions that the budget was not tough enough to meet IMF-mandated austerity measures and by market talk that Jakarta might declare a debt moratorium.
January 8 Representatives of the IMF and South Korea agree to a 90-day rollover of short-term debt.
January 10 Indonesia’s President Suharto comes under increasing international pressure to adhere to IMF conditions. He calls the delay or review of 15 big infrastructure projects.
January 11 The IMF’s first Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fisher arrives in Jakarta for talks about the IMF’s programme and how to move ahead with it.
January 12 Peregrine, one of Asia’s largest independent investment banks, collapses under a mountain of bad loans to Indonesia borrowers. Shares fall sharply in Hongkong, China and Singapore.
January 14 IMF Managing Director Camdessus heads for Jakarta. Stopping off in Singapore, he says the IMF is asking Indonesia to sign a new letter of intent committing itself to implementing further IMF reforms.
January 15 Camdessus and President Suharto sign an agreement strengthening economic reforms.
January 16 Camdessus says he expects the Indonesian and Thai economies to recover within two years.
January 22 The rupiah falls to a record low of 12,000 to the dollar as reports surface that corporates were now paying their dollar debts off in rupiah.
January 23 Indonesia presents a revised budget sticking to figures agreed with the IMF. The budget expects zero growth in fiscal 1998 and inflation of 20%. But it also assumes the rupiah will be at a level of 5,000 to the dollar. It ends the day at 12,000.
January 27 Indonesia announces a temporary freeze on debt servicing but says it is not a moratorium as companies with the dollars can pay their creditors. It also announces banking reforms in which the government will guarantee the security of both depositors and creditors.
January 28 Indonesia again stresses it has not sought a debt moratorium, saying a temporary freeze suggested on servicing corporate debts is entirely voluntary. Mobs attack shops owned by ethnic Chinese in Central Java over rising food prices.
International creditor banks and the South Korean government say they have agreed on a plan to exchange $24 billion of short-term debt for new loans maturing in one, two and three years.
January 30 U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warns Asia’s financial crisis could spread.
February 3 Singapore proposes a multilateral system of guarantees for Indonesian letters of credit.
February 4 Indonesian government gives a lukewarm response to a proposal by U.S. economist Steve Hanke to set up a currency board, where the rupiah is pegged to another currency, most likely the U.S. dollar.
Suharto refuses to name a running mate in March election, saying it was the right of parliamentary groups, not his right, to name the candidate.
February 6 Thousands of troops and police put on a show of strength in practice sessions in Jakarta before the indirect presidential elections in early March. Chief debt negotiator Radius Prawiro says the country’s total foreign debt was $137.424 billion.
February 9 Growing unhappiness over Suharto’s handling of the economic crisis leads to a signature campaign to replace him.
Suharto says he will announce new steps on the exchange rate of the rupiah, giving the first hint that the fixed currency system might be implemented. A curfew is imposed in an eastern Indonesia town after more riots.
February 10 Bank Indonesia Governor Soedradjad Djiwandono tells parliament the government was weighing the merits of a currency board system.
Outgoing army chief Feisal Tanjung says recent riots were inflamed by people who were trying to undermine national unity. Planning Minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita declines to be vice-president candidate, paving the way for Research and Technology Minister Jusuf Habibie.
February 11 Finance Minister Mar’ie Muhammad tells parliament the government was preparing the groundwork for a currency board system. The rupiah rises to 7,200 to the dollar on Indonesia’s plan to introduce a fixed-rate currency.
Suharto also accuses unnamed parties of seeking to undermine the economy by driving the rupiah down.
Police detain 140 people after protests in Jakarta over rising food prices.
February 12 Suharto repeats warning of a plot to destabilise the government as hundreds riot in a West Java town. Suharto also appoints a loyalist, General Wiranto, as new military chief. The ruling Golkar party names Habibie and parliament speaker Harmoko as its vice president candidates.
The IMF insists Indonesia is not ready for a rigid currency regime.
February 13 Suharto tells President Clinton the IMF was failing to stem his country’s financial crisis. Clinton objects to Jakarta’s plans to fix the rupiah to the U.S. dollar through a currency board system
The rupiah surges to as high as 8,100 on signs the plan will proceed.
February 14 The IMF threatens to cut off the bail-out fund for Indonesia over its plans to peg the rupiah. ASEAN central bankers discuss a proposal to promote the use of regional currencies for intra-regional trade. Police detain 154 people in riots over rising prices, which left at least three dead and Jakarta bans mass rallies during voting in March. Rioters had torched shops owned by ethnic Chinese, churches and cars in three west Java towns.Two rioters are shot dead in Praya, a town in the holiday island of Lombok.
February 16 Parliamentary speaker Harmoko withdraws from vice-presidential race in favour of Habibie, who was also endorsed by the Moslem-backed United Development Party. As rioting over rising food prices worsens, Indonesian police warn they would shoot rioters on sight even as new military commander Wiranto played down the impact of the violence.
February 17 President Suharto fires central bank governor Soedradjad Djiwandono for opposing the currency board proposal. Djiwandono replaced by U.S.-trained economist Sjahril Sabirin. The sacking draws immediate attacks from global lenders as it is seen as a direct affront to their demands that Jakarta reform its economy.
Febraury 18 Habibie assured of the vice presidency after winning the backing of the powerful armed forces.
German Finance Minister Theo Waigel says President Suharto promised to rethink the currency board plan, throwing the markets into confusion about Jakarta’s position on the scheme. Waigel also signs agreement to provide Indonesia with 375 million marks ($205.3 million) in financial aid to fight the economic crisis.
Thousands of students and labourers, angered by rising prices, stone dozens of shops and offices in the southeast Sulawesi capital of Kendari, while a series of hoax bomb threats are received in Ujung Pandang in South Sulawesi.
February 19 The country’s currency crisis remains unresolved amid confusion over Jakarta’s position on the currency board as rioting is reported in eastern Indonesia and West Java targeted at Chinese shopowners. The rupiah steady at 8,750/8,850.
U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley and German Finance Minister Waigel insist Indonesia must follow IMF-prescribed economic reforms to get economy on track.
Chinese shopowners open a public relations drive in Java selling commodities at discounts to Javanese poor. China says it believed Indonesia could keep ethnic unity and deal with its economic crisis.
The IMF and United States, while stressing that the currency board scheme was premature, show flexibility by saying that the currency plan could be considered once banking reform, corporate debt and other economic issues had been addressed by Jakarta.
February 20 Finance Minister Mar’ie Muhammad says Indonesia so far faced no problem in meeting state foreign debts, while telling parliament that the government wants to maintain good ties with the IMF. Mar’ie says Suharto had instructed the finance ministry and the Central Bank to prepare for the introduction of a currency board by taking into consideration all views and development, locally and abroad.
Police brace for further unrest in Sulawesi island as no clear picture is seen on how the government would stabilise the rupiah.
February 25 Indonesia troops patrol two towns on Sumatra after a series of riots against rising prices, the first to hit the western island.
The ruling Golkar party says the government must decide quickly whether to adopt a currency board. IMF head Michel Camdessus warns Indonesia not to adopt a currency board, saying "At this very moment it is the view of IMF, supported by the entire world community, that the currency board medicine would kill the Indonesia patient."
February 26 A new team of IMF officials arrives in Jakarta to review Indonesia’s economic reform programme, as international bankers gathered to discuss ways of easing the country’s crushing debt. Banking sources say the new team arrived to review the economic reforms Jakarta has agreed to in exchange for the $40 billion bail-out package.
German Finance Minister Theo Waigel repeats warning to Indonesia not to adopt a currency board. "I regret that Indonesia’s president has not recognised what the impact of a wrong currency step on the country could be," he said.
March 1 President Suharto sends mixed signals to IMF, insisting he’s committed to economic reforms but refusing to scrap the currency peg proposal.
Tensions rose briefly in the capital Jakarta when 5,000 University of Indonesia students marched to the gates of their campus shouting slogans blaming the government for the country’s financial mess.
Indonesia’s borrowers and lenders begin negotiations on rescheduling at least $70 billion in private off-shore debt.
March 2 President Suharto delivers his strongest comments to date on the economic crisis, saying reforms prescribed by the IMF had not worked and more drastic plans had to be drawn up.
"The financial crisis … (is) more serious, more widespread and more lasting than anyone could have imagined," Suharto told the inaugural 1998 session of the People’s Consultative Assembly.
March 4 The IMF approves release of the third tranche payment from Thailand’s package and commends the Thai government for its economic reforms.
March 6 IMF says its board would not discuss Indonesia’s economic reform program before April, effectively delaying a $3 billion payment initially expected by March 15.
IMF plays down the missed deadline saying the delay did not imply a cancellation of the bail-out package. It stated a need for its review team in Jakarta to discuss changes in "a few macroeconomic functions" with the new cabinet to be appointed following President Suharto’s re-election March 10.
State owned Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia (Bank Exim) admits that it experienced a foreign exchange shortfall, but declines to give details of the loss. The admission came after the Jakarta news weekly Kontan reported that Bank Exim may have suffered a loss on $2.2 billion in forex transactions.
March 9 Rupiah recovers well from its earlier low of around 12,000 per dollar as rumours of an imminent move to a currency board system swirl. IMF head Michel Camdessus warns that the crisis in Indonesia could undermine efforts to combat financial turmoil in Asia unless the problems were resolved soon.
March 10 President Suharto re-elected unopposed to a seventh five-year term. A senior official said Indonesia will send a top-level economic delegation for talks with the United States and the IMF on differences over how to resolve its economic crisis.
March 23 Indonesia nearly doubles interest rates to boost the rupiah and control inflation.
April 1 Japan begins steps aimed at liberalising its financial markets to make them "free, fair and global" by 2001. Tokyo share prices fall, the yen dips and Japan’s central bank governor pronounces every economic indicator bad.
April 2 The chairman of electronics giant Sony, Norio Ohga, says the Japanese economy is on the verge of collapse.
April 3 U.S. ratings agency Moody’s lowers its outlook on Japan’s sovereign debt to negative from stable. Asian currencies fall sharply on the news.
May 7 Fears that riots in the Indonesian city of Medan will spill over into a wider social crisis send regional stocks into retreat.
May 11 India stuns the world with announcement of three underground nuclear tests. Pakistan stocks tumble 3.52% while India’s National Stock Exchange index slides 2.55%.
May 13 The United States imposes economic sanctions on India and Japan suspends some loans.
May 14 Mobs rampage through Jakarta and students demand Suharto’s resignation. Indonesia’s worsening crisis takes centre-stage for Asian markets, several of which suffer sharp losses.
May 15 Suharto returns home from Egypt amid signs he is losing his 32-year grip on power.
May 21 Suharto steps down and is succeeded by former deputy president B.J. Habibie. Markets enjoy a limited rally. Jakarta stocks surge more than three percent.
May 25 South Korean shares plummet 6.78% despite a lifting of foreign ownership limits on stocks. Most other Asian markets shrug off Seoul’s fall.
May 26 Seoul’s KOSPI share index continues to dive, losing a further six percent, hurt by a looming recession and labour unrest.
May 27 Asian markets are hammered as the yen falls against the dollar and amid mounting fears of economic recession. Hongkong stocks plunge more than five percent after Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa warns of possible recession.
May 28 Pakistan conducts nuclear tests.
May 29 The dollar rockets to a seven-year high of 139 yen on fears of a possible nuclear arms race in Asia and after news that Japan’s unemployment rate hit 4.1 percent in April, its highest level since the end of World War Two.
Recession looms in much of Asia. Hongkong reports that its gross domestic product contracted two percent in first quarter of 1998. About the same time Indonesia and Malaysia also report their economies contracted in the first quarter.
June 1 Pakistani stocks plunge 12.38% as traders get their first chance to react to sanctions imposed after the country’s nuclear tests. Asian markets are hit as nuclear tension adds to a cocktail of domestic problems.
June 5 International lenders and Indonesian companies reach a deal to reschedule the country’s massive corporate debt.
June 8 The yen falls past 140 to the dollar, sending a shudder through Asian markets. Signs that Japan and other leading economies are unlikely to intervene to support the unit sap confidence further.
June 10 China’s central bank governor warns that the weak yen is having a severe impact on Beijing’s foreign trade, raising fears that China may devalue its yuan currency. Markets across Asia tumble, led by a near five percent fall on Hongkong’s Hang Seng Index.
In Taiwan, the local dollar hits new 11-year lows and the Australian dollar plummets past 59 U.S. cents.
June 11 U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin all but rules out the possibility of joint intervention by major industrial powers to bolster the yen. He says the weak yen reflects the state of the Japanese economy.
June 12 Economic Planning Agency says Japan’s gross domestic product fell by an annualised rate of 5.3 % in the first quarter, signalling recession. The yen dives towards 145 to the dollar as hopes fade of official intervention.
June 17 The U.S. joins Japan in selling the dollar in favour of the yen.
The action takes markets by surprise and the yen rises to a high of around 134 at one stage from a level of some 142.50 prior to the intervention.
June 19 U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin tells Reuters he is not expecting high level meetings in Tokyo to produce specific new action plans on the economy. His statements puts further pressure on the yen.
June 20 Top finance officials from the Group of Seven meet in Tokyo and vow to cooperate as appropriate in the currency markets.
June 23 Michel Camdessus calls the yen fall a "crisis within the crisis
June 25 Indonesia and the IMF sign another letter of intent – the fourth. The letter says that Indonesian GDP is expected to contract by at least 10% in 1998 and says the rupiah will stabilised at around 10,000 by the last quarter of 1998.
June 26 Malaysia cuts bank statutory reserve requirements to eight percent from 10 percent.
June 29 For the first time, South Korea closes banks, shutting five ailing operations in a major step towards meeting the mandate of the massive IMF rescue package.