The International Monetary Fund
has told governments across the world
that further action is needed
to help return the global financial system to stability.
In a fresh estimate of the scale of the problem,
the IMF says global losses on toxic assets
could total four trillion dollars. Andrew Walker reports.
This report does identify
what it calls some early signs of stabilization in financial systems,
but there are not many of them.
And the IMF says further action will be needed
if they're to be sustained.
In two key areas, it says that progress by governments
has been piecemeal and reactive,
dealing with the problem assets held by financial institutions
and how to handle banks that need extra capital.
For that problem the report says
temporary government ownership may sometime be necessary.