07 abril 2008

El debate acerca de la crisis financiera: Las declaraciones de Strauss-Kahn del FMI .



Intervernir o no intervenir, Marcelo Justo, BBC Mundo, 07/04/2008

El debate está al rojo vivo: ¿deben intervenir los gobiernos en el sistema financiero internacional?

Con sus declaraciones al "Financial Times", el director del FMI Dominque Strauss-Kahn se pronunció a favor de una intervención estatal.

No está solo.

Según informa la prensa británica, el ministro de finanzas del Reino Unido, Alistair Darling, insta a sus colegas del G7 a adoptar un "plan de acción" claro y detallado para lidiar con la turbulencia financiera.

La intervención no es una idea nueva.

De hecho, desde el comienzo de la crisis hipotecaria estadounidense, tanto el gobierno de George Bush como la Unión Europea han gastado miles de millones de dólares para evitar una crisis sistémica.

A pesar de ello, según cálculos del G7, las pérdidas por las hipotecas "sub-prime" (de alto riesgo) podrían ascender a 400 mil millones de dólares.

La hora cero

El impacto de estas pérdidas se ha hecho sentir en los mercados bursátiles del mundo entero, pero el director del FMI alertó que este impacto se puede extender a la economía real.

El Foro para la Estabilidad Financiera, que coordina la respuesta global a la actual turbulencia bursátil, y que participará en la reunión del G7, dio a conocer un informe en el que recomienda abiertamente una regulación mas estricta del sistema financiero.

Pero no todos están de acuerdo con un intervencionismo estatal.

En un editorial el viernes pasado, el influyente semanario conservador "The Economist" se pronunció en contra de cualquier intervención argumentando que ahogaría la creatividad del sistema financiero y terminaría asfixiando el crecimiento de la economía mundial.

"La idea de que el mundo puede salir de la crisis con más regulación es una ilusión. La crisis es el precio de la innovación", decía el editorial.

En privado, el gobierno de Estados Unidos lidera a los que están de acuerdo con esta posición.

Pero dada la profundidad de la crisis, habrá que ver si los gobiernos se atreven a adoptar la actitud contemplativa y desapegada de un buda frente a las claras grietas que muestra el edificio financiero internacional.



IMF head calls for global help on turmoil
, Financial Times, 07/04/2008

By Krishna Guha in Washington, Published: April 7 2008 03:00 | Last updated: April 7 2008 03:00

Government intervention at a global level is required to tackle the credit crisis, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund, who has warned that market turmoil will take its toll on world growth.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF managing director, told the Financial Times: "I really think that the need for public intervention is becoming more evident."

Government intervention - whether in the securities market, the housing market or the banking sector - would act as a "third line of defence" supporting monetary and financial policy, he said.

The controversial call comes days before world finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Washington DC for the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Policymakers will discuss the credit crisis and steps to address it.

Alistair Darling, the chancellor, in a letter to be sent ahead of the meetings, will today call on his fellow finance ministers for a "clear and detailed plan of action" to calm the markets, describing the situation as "one of the strongest financial shocks for decades".

Authorities, particularly in the US, have taken increasingly aggressive measures to support market liquidity but not intervened in the financial system - with the exception of the rescues of Bear Stearns last month and Northern Rock in the UK.

In recent months finance ministries and central banks have been exchanging ideas behind the scenes on possible interventions as part of contingency planning. Most policymakers, including those in the eurozone and the US, do not believe broad public intervention is yet necessary.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's call will increase pressure on them to act. The Institute of International Finance, an association representing big banks, last week said there was a "growing case" for government intervention.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, rejected the notion that the credit crisis was largely a US problem. "The crisis is global," he said. "The so-called decoupling theory is totally misleading." Developing countries such as China and India would be affected.

He said that banking crises in Japan and other nations, including France, offered insights into how to tackle the turmoil. "There is a general idea that you should find a way to disentangle the good assets from the bad assets."

Intervention would tackle the housing and credit problems. "Effort has to be made on loan restructuring. With respect to the banks, if capital buffers cannot be repaired quickly enough by the private sector, use of public money can be examined."

Many banks outside the US were holding dollar denominated assets, including ones linked to US credit markets, he said. "So even if this problem started in the US, the question of having a solution goes beyond the US."

The IMF would this week reduce its global economic forecasts, Mr Strauss-Kahn added.

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