Zoellick warns of more financial unrest after Dubai+

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TOKYO, Dec. 8 Kyodo -
(EDS: ADDING INFO, COMMENTS IN 4TH TO LAST GRAFS)
Visiting World Bank President Robert Zoellick expressed confidence Tuesday that
Dubai's debt problems will be addressed but warned there will be ''different
waves'' as the world has yet to come out of the economic crisis.

The financial unrest in Dubai ''can be contained'' as the emirate and its
creditors are likely to reach a standstill agreement, Zoellick said in an
interview with Kyodo News and other Japanese media.
However, he also said, ''I see the Dubai incident as an example that there
still are problems around the world, and when financial systems are less
transparent, it is hard to identify those problems.''
The head of the international lending institution said the crisis poses
different problems depending on the development stage of economies.
For poor nations, the crisis started with surging food and fuel prices before
it turned out financial, Zoellick said, adding that high unemployment rates,
consumer loan problems and huge losses in the banking sector in the United
States have different characteristics from the original problem in the mortgage
market.
''From the start of the crisis, I have cautioned that one has to see the danger
of waves of effects,'' he said, warning of the possibility that there will be
more problems like the one in Dubai's real estate sector, which analysts say is
a result of easy credit during the boom years before the industry was badly hit
by the global credit crisis.
''Officials have to be prepared for different waves of the crisis,'' Zoellick
also said. In 2010, ''we have to anticipate potential dangers because we are
not through this crisis.''
During his visit, Zoellick met with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Monday.
The World Bank and Japan agreed to cooperate in the battle against global
warming, with Zoellick calling for additional commitment from Tokyo to
assisting developing economies with its energy-efficient technologies.
==Kyodo
2009-12-08 23:53:24