The immediate effect was a scramble for liquidity in the main international financial centres, and by the large international banks. There was a massive rise in risk aversion in financial markets, reflected in a variety of indicators, including a rise in risk premiums – the margin that financial intermediaries demand for holding riskier assets – and steep falls in global stock markets.
Even in the GCC the crisis has begun to have an impact. Although the GCC countries enjoy strong fundamentals, this has not shielded them from the crisis. Several have experienced significant stock market corrections.