OVERVIEW

1998 was a year of financial catastrophe in Indonesia as the Asian financial crisis swept across the country. The effects of this crash are still being felt today and the recent slump in the rupiah means that the Indonesian currency currently sits at around the lowly 15,000 IDR to the US dollar mark just last week. Compare this to the period prior to the 1998 Asian financial crisis, when there were only 2,500 IDR per 1 USD.

The 1998 crisis changed all of that though, as financial institutions across Indonesia proved unable to handle the domino effect set in motion by the crash. This all culminated in runs on many of the country's banks, as customers sought to withdraw all of their funds, fearing that their banks would end up closing their doors forever, thus ending any hope that they would see their deposits again.