After external credit had dried up, the government in July declared that it would at once eliminate its fiscal deficit.

ECONOMIST: Argentina's congressional elections

External sources of credit would dry up because foreign investors, banks and companies would fear that their money would be trapped.

ECONOMIST: The euro

And by banishing residual fears that Brazil could face a shortfall in external financing this year, the agreement might help Brazilian firms to keep foreign credit lines open.

ECONOMIST: Saved | The

But research by Mr Elekdag and Fei Han, also of the IMF, suggests that such external factors explain only a small portion (16%) of the variation in credit growth in emerging Asia.

ECONOMIST: Emerging markets

"Whereas the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) was conceived by the UK authorities to mitigate the worst impacts of a potential fresh credit crunch, its launch has in fact coincided with a more positive external funding environment, in part due to European Central Bank actions, " said the CML's chief economist Bob Pannell.

BBC: For Sale signs