Crisis Briefing - 13-Oct-08

IMF warns of “systemic meltdown”, as Singapore sinks. Financial markets are in for another very volatile week, as G7 and G20 finance leaders have failed to deliver a concrete coordinated response to the global financial system that is “on the brink of systemic meltdown”, according to IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Australia (up 1%) and New Zealand (up 5%) stock markets were trading in positive territory at time of writing, following full government guarantees of bank deposits. But the focus will be on Asian Stock Market responses to Singapore Government data showing it is the first Asian country to enter a technical recession. Japan and the US are on public holiday, while European markets will be a bellwether of sentiment to the latest attempts by governments to breath some hope into financial markets.