KEY POINTS:
The global credit crunch has cost more than US$400 billion ($540 billion), and the International Monetary Fund says there is no end in sight. Yesterday, it repeated its estimate that losses to banks and financial institutions will approach US$1 trillion.
It warned that the United States' housing slump had triggered a "negative feedback loop" in the world economy.
And the New Zealand economy and the Australian banks which control more than 90 per cent of the NZ banking industry have shown they are not immune to the turmoil.
