Mahathir still hates currency traders - decades after crisis
He once called them 'unscrupulous profiteers' in an 'immoral' line of work
Singapore
AS THE Asian financial crisis raged on two decades ago, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad committed economic heresy by rejecting an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and slapping capital controls on global investors.
Dr Mahathir blasted currency traders as "unscrupulous profiteers" in an "immoral" line of work. Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, who bet big and won big against the British pound in 1992, returned fire, predicting that Dr Mahathir's policies would be a "recipe for disaster".
Not so it turned out. Malaysia's economy contracted but quickly snapped back from the c…
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Britain’s retail sales disappoint in sign of lacklustre recovery
Explosions in Iran, US media reports Israeli strikes
US veto sinks Palestinian UN membership bid in Security Council
Pro-China local leader ousted in Solomon Islands election
Japan‘s March inflation slows to 2.6%, eyes on BOJ move
S&P downgrades Israel rating on heightened geopolitical risk