Financial crisis

The financial crisis triggered in the United States in 2007 when the speculative bubble burst in the property market worsened in 2008, accelerating in the autumn following the collapse of American investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc..

To counteract the situation, central authorities throughout different countries took coordinated steps to cut interest rates, inject liquidity into the market and rescue leading financial and insurance companies. The measures were not sufficient to stop the crisis spreading to the real economy, with a significant impact on the demand for consumer goods, industrial production and the labour market, marking a recession in the United States and EU countries and a pronounced slowdown in emerging countries.

Within this context, inflation rates and oil prices began to fall, following the sharp increases recorded up until the summer.  Global GDP, gradually on the wane, saw an increase in 2008 at an average annual rate of 3.9% (+5.4% in 2007).