Economic Crisis 2008 on SAARC

Effects:
1. All SAARC stock markets have crumbled; India and Pakistan leading the table.
2. India most affected and Bhutan the least.
3. SAARC is certainly among the least affected RECs in the world

Issues brought by the crisis in the region:

• US investors have flown back to save their home operations
• Corporate spending have dried up due to unavailable credit
• Unemployment is on the rise
• Few Indian Banks are in trouble; almost all MNC Banks are affected
• Consumer Spending have come down

Some good things that happened:

• Inflation is lowered
• Local Banks get chance to better their MNC rivals
• Low Petroleum cost is sure to benefit the region (who are major oil importers)
• Majorly Agriculture based Economy; least chance for recession

My take:

• Not so much bad News for SAARC
• Economy Growth will slow due to lack to external funding
• Internal Economic Dependence will increase thus pushing up intra-regional trade
• External Competition will be fierce, but our competitiveness will be high due to low cost
• Governments will speed up infrastructure spend to boost economic growth; good time to take it up
• Co-operation between member states will rise as external factors wont be favorable
• Overall a much better SAARC; probably a sooner SAEU

Whats your take on it? Share your views/comments here. Would be interesting to know them.