IMF: economic outlook dire; civil unrest, war possible
Posted: March 23rd, 2009, 1:49 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNew ... 1620090323
Isn't this like the 100th warning from the IMF about this subject?* Economic crisis dire, risk of unrest and war
* Recovery depends on cleaning up bank balance sheets
Not on our dime!
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - The world is in a dire economic crisis, but no recovery is possible until the financial sector is cleaned up, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
The crisis will push millions into poverty and unemployment, risking social unrest and even war, and urgent action is required, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.
"Bluntly the situation is dire," he told a meeting on the crisis at the International Labour Organisation, a United Nations agency representing unions, employers and governments that studies labour issues.
Strauss-Kahn confirmed that the IMF would shortly update its economic forecasts to show the world economy contracting by between 0.5 and 1.0 percent this year -- the first reversal in more than 50 years of sustained growth.