The current account posed a small surplus in 2015 (0.1% of GDP). This marks a significant turnaround of the current account balance by about 15 percentage points of GDP since 2008. Adjustment has come primarily from a decline in imports of goods, particularly in 2009, when world trade collapsed due to the global recession.
When, on 15 September 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the turmoil that had started a year earlier turned into an avalanche. The system moved into a chaotic state, mathematically and metaphorically. The crash In times of financial panic, banks and other financial intermediaries have an instinct to change the composition of their assets. They shed risky and illiquid investments and rush to liquidity.