Question
Siam Cement, the Bangkok-based cement manufacturer, suffered enormous losses with the coming of the Asian crisis in 1997. The company had been pursuing a very
Siam Cement, the Bangkok-based cement manufacturer, suffered enormous losses with the coming of the Asian crisis in 1997. The company had been pursuing a very aggressive growth strategy in the mid1990s, taking on massive quantities of foreign-currency-denominated debt (primarily U.S. dollars). When the Thai baht (B) was devalued from its pegged rate of B/$ in July 1997, Siam's interest payments alone were over $900 million on its outstanding dollar debt (with an average interest rate of % on its U.S. dollar debt at that time). Assuming Siam Cement took out million in debt in June 1997 at % interest, and had to repay it in one year when the spot exchange rate had stabilized at , what was the foreign exchange loss incurred on the transaction?
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