Many financial liberalization measures were carried out and by 1993 most foreign exchange controls on current account and capital account transactions had been lifted. In March 1993,the Bangkok International Banking Facilities (BIBF) was established to serve as a means to develop Bangkok into an international financial center. Tax privileges were given to BIBF transactions to enable it to compete with other financial centers. It was hoped that the BIBF will result in a lot of in-out financial flows, so that Bangkok could become a financial center providing financing to other regional economies. Instead, most of the flows were out-in fueling the economic bubble and leading to a rapid increase in short-term foreign debt, which were the key elements bringing about the crisis.