This book provides a comparative picture of the restructuring experiences of five Asian economies. South Korea and Singapore represent the success stories of Asian tigers. Indonesia and Thailand are making the transition to the Newly Industrialized Country status. One of the newest members of the 'restructuring club' is India, which, after four decades of import-substituting industrialization, is currently going through a reform process.

The restructuring experiences of these five countries are viewed within a common framework. The framework distinguishes between a short-term stabilization component and a long-term growth component of an economic restructuring package. The studies on South Korea and Singapore emphasize the longer-term aspects of restructuring, while the Indonesia and Thailand country-studies put more emphasis on the short-term aspects of restructuring.

The India study describes the origins of the macroeconomic crisis of 1991 and puts into perspective the problems faced by the country at the beginning of the reform process.