The International Monetary Fund has said the worldwide losses stemming from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis could run to $945 billion.
The IMF, in a particularly stark bi-annual report, said that falling US house prices and rising delinquencies on the residential mortgage market could lead to losses of $565 billion.
Combined with other categories of loans originated and securities issued in the US related to commercial real estate, the consumer credit market, and corporations 'increases aggregate potential losses to about $945 billion,' it said.
'The crisis is spreading beyond the US sub-prime market - namely to the prime residential and commercial real estate markets, consumer credit, and the low-to high grade corporate credit markets,' the IMF said in releasing its Global Financial Stability Report.
