Senior global policy makers have raised projections for the size of sub-prime-related credit losses in a move that implies financial institutions will have to increase write-offs. Financial Times

Peer Steinbrück, German finance minister, said the G7 feared that write-offs of losses on securities linked to US sub-prime mortgages could reach $400bn (£205bn).

This is sharply higher than the $120bn credit losses that Wall Street banks and other institutions have revealed in recent weeks – and also far bigger than the US Federal Reserve’s estimates for subprime losses last year of $100bn-$150bn.