Fears of recession mounting

A year-long global credit crisis may hit bottom soon, but the threat of more banking losses and slower growth for global economies is mounting, say senior Wall Street analysts.

US and European bank writedowns and losses will likely stretch out to 2009, expanding beyond problem mortgages to other forms of consumer credit, Deutsche Bank chief Peter Hooper said.

That in turn may lead to slow growth and possible recession in the United Kingdom, Canada and continental Europe as rising inflation and high oil prices rein in US consumer spending, a senior Lehman Brothers Inc strategist said.