The world is going through a period of intense stress and is likely to experience the financial crisis for another year, believes Eric Boyer, a member of ING Group's executive board and head of the wholesale banking division. "Based on my thirty-year experience on financial markets, where I have witnessed seven or eight crises, I can say that this is one of the most powerful. As the '97-'98 crisis needed at least two years to resorb, my intuition tells me that it is impossible that the current crisis ends sooner, and therefore we are likely to have one more year of financial strain ahead of us," Boyer told ZF in a recent interview. He believes that, unfortunately, there is no tangible sign of an improvement in the situation on financial markets.

"The best proof has to do with the operating conditions on the interbank markets, where big players are still in need of substantial support from central banks to cover their cash needs. Then the refinancing conditions on the capital markets are very expensive and maturities are generally short. I wouldn't go as far as to speak of worsening conditions, but it is clear that there is a convergence of factors that reveal tense circumstances."

He also notes that, unlike previous crises, which were rather regional in scope, the current crisis has already generated global effects, despite originating chiefly in the US. "Surely the developed countries are the worst affected and we are already seeing an economic slowdown and even negative economic growth there. However, the impact on emerging markets is not something to be overlooked either, because they are fully connected to the developed market."

Boyer says Central and Eastern Europe has not been dramatically affected yet, as the trend of the economies in the region depends on access to natural resources, especially energy-related. "Asia is doing very well a