FINANCIAL CRISIS FAR FROM OVER: BANK CHIEF

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) -- A top European central banker has cautioned
against optimism that the global economy will recover soon, saying the situation
is far from true.

President of Netherlands Bank, Nout Wellink, said the market should not read
too much into slight improvements in some economic indicators being reported of
late when in fact there were still immense challenges such as access to credit.

"Challenges in this area (global financial system) are just as relevant as
they were last November, maybe they are even more relevant nowadays," he said.

Wellink said this in his keynote address at the Asia Regional Forum on
Policy and Regulation of Financial Inclusion here Wednesday.

He said although the crisis may have left the microfinancing institutions
relatively unaffected but they were also experiencing increased pressure.

-- BERNAMA