Global bailout package size nears $2 trillion

With financial institutions falling prey one after another to the global credit crisis, the bailout packages announced by various governments across the globe are inching towards two trillion-dollar mark -- an amount nearly double the size of Indian economy. With the US Congress giving nod to $ 700-billion aid for troubled financial institutions in the country, the US government alone has announced a total package worth about $990 billion. Besides, a handful of European countries have already announced packages worth a similar amount in efforts to save their troubled financial entities. There are expectations for more such instances of helping hands coming from the governments in Europe as the crisis is said to be fast spreading in the region after a full-blown blast in the US. However, nothing of this sort is expected in India as the country and its financial institutions have remained mostly insulated from any direct impact of the crisis. Still, the collective bailout packages in the US and Europe, currently at about $1.8 trillion, could soon be double the size of one trillion-dollar Indian economy. India's GDP is estimated at Rs 46,93,602 crore for the latest fiscal 2007-08, which stands at just over $one trillion based on the current exchange rate of about Rs 46.8 to a dollar. From America to Europe, the deepening financial turmoil has seen the fall of big names, especially in the banking industry, such as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, firesale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America and the extension of $ 85 billion lifeline to AIG.