Moneyizor.com has a piece on the International Monetary Fund’s latest Global Financial Stability Report, in which it claims losses by financial institutions are set to rise to $1 trillion (£500 billion).

Moneyizor comments :

On the day when the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, reported a staggering 2.5pc drop in house prices in March alone, the IMF warns governments, central banks and regulators that they now face a test of their mettle unique in modern times.

… the Fund remarks, “The critical challenge now facing policymakers is to take immediate steps to mitigate the risks of an even more wrenching adjustment.”

The report indicates that this downturn is about more than just liquidity, as some commentators are still arguing, but is rooted in “deep-seated fragilities” among banks with too little capital. This “means that its effects are likely to be broader, deeper and more protracted.”