Submitted by Naomi M on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 18:55.
Mortgage Crisis in US Will Total 945 Billion in Losses
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 report.
The IMF’s semiannual Global Financial Stability Report continued to state that “the crisis is spreading beyond the US subprime market – namely to the prime residential and commercial real estate markets, consumer credit, and the low-to-high-grade corporate credit markets.”
It was the first time the multilateral institution has made an official estimate (which could go higher) of the global losses suffered by banks and other financial institutions in the credit squeeze that began eight months ago in the United States, amid rising defaults on subprime, or high-risk, home loans.
The staggering 945 billion dollar estimate of losses, made in March, represents roughly 142 dollars per person worldwide and represents four percent of the 23.21-trillion-dollar credit market.
The IMF said that global banks likely will shoulder about half of the losses -- at 440 billion to 510 billion dollars.
Last month, ratings agency Standard & Poor's estimated global banking firms would likely write off 285 billion dollars in various securities linked to US subprime real estate, with more than half the losses already recognized. Some analysts have put the figure higher for the subprime market and related losses.
"Leading indicators point to a tightening of credit conditions across many economic activities," Jaime Caruana, head of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department, said at a news conference.
Caruana said the losses "suggest a potentially large impact on US economic growth," and that Europe may also see tightening conditions and slowing credit growth under the global financial strain.
The IMF releases its biannual World Economic Outlook on Wednesday and already has said it would slash a half percentage point off its forecast of 2008 global economic growth, to 3.7 percent.
The IMF, whose core mission is to promote global financial stability, said there was "a collective failure to appreciate the extent of leverage taken on by a wide range of institutions -- banks, monoline insurers, government-sponsored entities, hedge funds -- and the associated risks of a disorderly unwinding.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gCVXhwBtv2-BFWHIfymDp70epCpg
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 report.
The IMF’s semiannual Global Financial Stability Report continued to state that “the crisis is spreading beyond the US subprime market – namely to the prime residential and commercial real estate markets, consumer credit, and the low-to-high-grade corporate credit markets.”
It was the first time the multilateral institution has made an official estimate (which could go higher) of the global losses suffered by banks and other financial institutions in the credit squeeze that began eight months ago in the United States, amid rising defaults on subprime, or high-risk, home loans.
The staggering 945 billion dollar estimate of losses, made in March, represents roughly 142 dollars per person worldwide and represents four percent of the 23.21-trillion-dollar credit market.
The IMF said that global banks likely will shoulder about half of the losses -- at 440 billion to 510 billion dollars.
Last month, ratings agency Standard & Poor's estimated global banking firms would likely write off 285 billion dollars in various securities linked to US subprime real estate, with more than half the losses already recognized. Some analysts have put the figure higher for the subprime market and related losses.
"Leading indicators point to a tightening of credit conditions across many economic activities," Jaime Caruana, head of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department, said at a news conference.
Caruana said the losses "suggest a potentially large impact on US economic growth," and that Europe may also see tightening conditions and slowing credit growth under the global financial strain.
The IMF releases its biannual World Economic Outlook on Wednesday and already has said it would slash a half percentage point off its forecast of 2008 global economic growth, to 3.7 percent.
The IMF, whose core mission is to promote global financial stability, said there was "a collective failure to appreciate the extent of leverage taken on by a wide range of institutions -- banks, monoline insurers, government-sponsored entities, hedge funds -- and the associated risks of a disorderly unwinding.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gCVXhwBtv2-BFWHIfymDp70epCpg
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