One reason that such a large amount of capital was able to leave so quickly was that a
substantial portion was structured with very short-term maturities. In each of the severely-hit
economies, short-term foreign exchange liabilities of the economy grew in excess of short-term
foreign exchange assets of the economy, leaving the economy vulnerable to liquidity problems in
the event of a sudden withdrawal of foreign capital. Presumably, foreign lenders (mainly banks)
had made short-term loans under the assumption that they would routinely roll over such loans in
the future. In the event, they pulled these loans abruptly in the second half of 1997.