IMF Outlines Dire Consequences if World Fails to Act on Banks
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn pressed governments around the world to act urgently and decisively to reverse a slump in global trade and industrial activity by cleaning up the banking system, restructuring the financial sector, and reviving the global economy in a coordinated manner.
He said in a speech at a meeting of South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that loss of confidence by investors, employers, and consumers was now the central problem. "Our central goal should be to restore it. At a global level, this means that governments and central banks need to act decisively so that investors once again feel confident about the solvency of financial institutions. And they should credibly commit to measures sufficient to eliminate the risk of a repeat of the Great Depression," Strauss-Kahn said.
A coordinated global response was needed to contain the crisis. "We saw in 2008 that piecemeal responses are not enough. This does not mean that all countries should do the same things, or that there is a "one size fits all" solution. But policy responses have to take into account the interconnectedness of national economies, and the fact that decisions taken in one country can have profound effects on others."
He blamed the crisis, which began in the subprime market in the United States and has since spread around the world, on "the opacity of financial markets, the greed of some bankers,
the complacency of regulators and policymakers."
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/NEW020709A.htm
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
