Falls in the value of financial assets worldwide could have reached more than $50,000bn (£35,000bn), equivalent to a year’s global economic output, the Asian Development Bank will warn today.

Asia has been hit disproportionately hard, according to the bank’s report, which warns that many Asian stimulus plans lag behind those of the leading global economies.

Separately, the World Bank said yesterday that developing countries faced a financing gap of $270bn-$700bn a year as capital flows dried up. Only a quarter of vulnerable countries were able to cushion the blow of the economic downturn, it said.

Financial Times