Earlier this month the International Monetary Fund said the worldwide losses resulting from the US subprime mortgage crisis could hit 945 billion dollars as the fallout spreads throughout the global economy.

The IMF report said that falling US housing prices and rising defaults of residential mortgages could lead to losses of 565 billion dollars.
That, combined with other categories of loans originated and securities issued in the United States related to commercial real estate, the consumer credit market and corporations “increases aggregate potential losses to about 945 billion dollars,” according to the …