The International Monetary Fund has begun to warn that it is running out of money for bailouts of troubled economies.
It can be grateful two of its Asian patients, Thailand and South Korea, are beginning to respond to the medicine it has prescribed, although its most critical patient, Indonesia, remains in the trauma room and faces a long spell in the recovery ward.
But now an Asian outpatient, the Philippines, which checked out of the hospital earlier this year after a stay so long that it can hardly be counted, is beginning to show signs of a relapse just as this IMF hospital is not in a position to take on new patients.
After struggling back into a fiscal surplus in early 1994, the first half figures for 1998 show the Philippine Government firmly back into a deficit of 24 billion pesos. Meanwhile Philippine inflation has crawled back into double-digit figures and industrial production growth is once more sliding.
But more ominous than this is the fact that the country just cannot seem to pull itself back into a current account surplus as the rest of Asia has been doing. The latest figures are up, but this is mostly a seasonal effect.
When taken on a 12-month average basis the figures show a deficit equivalent to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product, pretty much what it has been for the past five years.
The merchandise trade balance has improved substantially, but this has been offset by a slowdown in net service and investment receipts. Meanwhile, foreigners have kept their money at home and capital inflows have subsided.