With so much in flux, the atmosphere in the financial community remained anxious and uncertain. Steel Co. Many South Korean companies are also having trouble arranging short-term trade credits from banks, damaging export prospects. In addition to the billions of dollars of debt payments that are due to foreign institutions by week's end, the government faces another cash crisis in January if foreign banks don't start rolling over loans as they come due. But next year is going to be quite a struggle as well. There is no sign that the tide is turning.
Confidence is the key, negotiators on both sides say, but confidence is what is hardest to restore.
Much of the rest was used futilely to prop up the currency, analysts said. Some analysts are worried that the IMF program will throw the country into a deep recession or depression, though the IMF still predicts 2.5 percent growth for the South Korean economy in 1998. The newspapers here carry daily tales of difficulties and liquidity crises.