The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has now increased its estimate of total sub-prime losses to $1.4 trillion, versus $945bn in April. It estimates banks will need to raise $675bn in new capital. And Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF MD, has called for the major economies to respond to the credit crisis with ‘a collective commitment by authorities to address the challenges directly’.
The annual IMF meeting of the world’s finance ministers takes place this weekend in Washington DC. This would be the perfect opportunity for such a collective commitment to be made. Chemical company executives will certainly share Strauss-Kahn’s view that ‘the time for piecemeal solutions is over’.