The head of Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, said today he was confident that the credit crunch was nearing its end.
'We think we've reached the end,' Ackermann told a banking conference in Germany. 'Global credit conditions are very positive.'
He said the real economy, referring to those sectors which produce goods and services, but not the financial markets, 'remains at a relatively high level.'
He told the 'Banks in Upheaval' conference that investors remained jittery, however, tending toward panic selling with each bit of bad news.
His remarks were more positive than comments made by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet earlier today.
Trichet said in his regular presentation to the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee that in his view the crisis, set off one year ago by a meltdown in the US mortgages market, was ongoing. He said monetary authorities must remain 'very, very vigilant'.
