Credit crunch to last two more years?

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :8/26/2008 4:22:06 AM

Temasek, Singapore's US$130 billion sovereign wealth fund, has predicted the global credit crunch will last two more years.

Michael Dee, Senior Managing Director of Temasek Holdings Pte’s international division, has today, August 26, told Bloomberg Television that he expects the global credit crisis to last two more years, drying up investment opportunities and constraining economic growth.

“It's going to be very difficult to predict whether we're in the beginning, the middle or the end,” he said.

“It may end sooner, it may go out of the 24-month window, but the other thing I would say is it's not just subprime; it can affect credit cards and other asset classes.”

The credit market collapse has erased US$9 trillion from global stocks in the past year, forcing banks to restore depleted capital.

Temasek, along with a handful of sovereign wealth funds, including those from Dubai and China, has risen to prominence in the past year following investments in global banks such as Merrill Lynch & Co.

This news comes at a time when the number of Americans out of work and the cost of living continues to rise.