Asia Review

A country-by-country update provides some perspective on the region’s problems:

* Thailand, the first to be hit when the Asian crisis broke last summer, has only begun to put IMF-mandated economic reforms in place. It is behind schedule and faces a years-long slump.

* Malaysia, also struck early by financial woes, has gone its own way rather than ask for IMF help and has done modestly well on its own. The government is expected to announce more budget cuts in a few days.

* South Korea has stabilized its currency and stemmed the hemorrhaging in its foreign-exchange reserves. But it is hampered by a lame-duck government until February. The outlook here is better than in much of Asia.

* Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are in better shape than most because they were following more prudent policies from the start. But they are being hurt by currency changes that are making their neighbors’ goods more competitive.

* Japan, which should be the economic engine that pulls the region back into prosperity, is beset by similar problems and has been too slow in changing policy to be much help in promoting a recovery.

* China is the real wild card. The country’s economic boom is tapering off, and some analysts fear eventually it may become mired in the region’s financial mess.