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Faisal Islam on Economics

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IMF: UK faces £200bn bank bailout cost… or does it?

Faisal Islam

Author: Faisal Islam|Posted: 5:19 pm on 21/04/09

Category: Faisal Islam on Economics | Tags: /

Canary Wharf - ReutersUPDATE: The IMF retracted its claim.

ORIGINAL POST: The IMF has hugely upgraded its projection for the likely total costs of the bank bailout.

In today’s Global Financial Stability Report the costs of financial stabilisation are put at a whopping 13.4 per cent of GDP, or £200bn. This brings the IMF in to line with the estimates from the experts in our special investigation last month.

It is an absolutely massive number, arising principally from the toxic asset insurance scheme.

And on the eve of a budget when we are told the kitty is empty for further stimulus to the economy, it raises all sorts of questions about how much money is being diverted to the financial sector.

 

Commentsoldest first

  1. At 5:26 pm on April 21, 2009 Snowblog - 2077: payback year for toxic asset scheme? wrote:

    [...] – UPDATE: IMF has upgraded its estimate to £200bn. [...]

    • At 4:41 am on May 13, 2009 Dennis Junior wrote:

      I loved how fast the IMF retracted the information the information…..

  2. At 7:20 pm on April 21, 2009 julian wrote:

    In your news report this evening you kept switching between £200bn and $200bn, be consistent!

  3. At 11:38 am on April 22, 2009 Snowblog - What to watch out for in ‘hangover budget’ wrote:

    [...] we will get the first indication of the direct bill for the bailout of our banking system. Not the £200bn IMF estimate, now withdrawn, more like £50-60bn. But an incredible admission [...]

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