SANTIAGO - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the top contender to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Thursday that recent turbulence in credit and money markets was a financial crisis the world had never experienced before.
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Mr Strauss-Kahn is widely expected to be named the IMF's new managing director in a vote by the fund's board of member countries on Friday'Today crises are linked to distribution of risks and to loss of confidence,' Mr Strauss-Kahn told a development forum in the Chilean capital Santiago in reference to historical financial crises.
'It is a problem that has become a problem of liquidity, it's not a problem of exchange rates. It's a financial crisis like none that has ever been seen and it's new and I hope it ends quickly,' he said.
The turmoil in global markets was sparked by increased defaults in the US sub-prime mortgage market, prompting a credit crunch and re-pricing in credit global markets. The IMF has cautioned that the turbulence could slightly weaken the global economic expansion in 2008.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, is widely expected to be named the IMF's new managing director in a vote by the fund's board of member countries on Friday.
His appointment was assured after the United States last week said it would back him over former Czech central banker Josef Tosovsky, who was nominated by Russia.
Argentina and Chile have also formally endorsed him.
'Mr Strauss-Kahn has the experience and ideal qualities needed to perform in the post to which he aspires, reflecting leadership capability and willingness to change,' Argentina's economy ministry and central bank said in a statement on Thursday. -- REUTERS
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