Address to the Overseas Development Council
James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group, reflected upon the Asian financial crisis. What lessons are there that need to be learned? How do you position the Asian crisis? What went wrong? It is very hard to generalize; there are problems in the banking sector, and the private sector. Yet, the achievements of Asia are real. Fiscal management is excellent. Savings rates are high. Primary school enrollment is near 100 percent. This is no Latin American-style crisis. The Bank is working on two paths to restore confidence in these economies. One is financial and the other is social. There is a need for change in the supervision and control of the banking systems, and for transparency in the corporate sector. The social implications of the crisis are that it is the standard of living of the poor that has suffered the most. Inequality, migration, and unemployment are rising at scary rates. The Bank believes that together with the governments we can look forward to a real future in Asia.