The MPC also worried that global financial market spillovers could impact macroeconomic conditions in emerging 5/8  BIS central bankers' speeches  markets. Accordingly, it changed the policy stance from accommodative to neutral in its February meeting. Importantly, the MPC renewed its commitment to the inflation target of 4 per cent.
If a negative shock decreases demand in any large economy, the negative effects ripple through the world economy. In the current crisis, the sudden and very large disruption in the functioning of the global banking system made the problems even worse. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, one third of the volume of the world trade disappeared almost overnight.