The expansion of world economy came to an abrupt halt in the fourth quarter of 2008.International money and capital markets froze. The credit turmoil continued with increasing uncertainties over the economic prospects of developed countries, despite a number of interventions by central banks and finance ministries, which consisted, among others, of aggressively lowering interest rates, supplying significant amounts of additional liquidity to banking systems, recapitalizing commercial banks and announcing fiscal stimulus packages.