Countries from Estonia to South Africa face large current account deficits – sometimes in the double digits. The deeper the global economy slides, the more vulnerable they become as exports shrink, tax receipts fall and currencies come under strain. Should an Asian-style crisis strike one of them, contagion is sure to topple others.

Even countries that have avoided dangerous external imbalances find themselves in trouble. The global fall in demand calls on them to engage in public deficit spending. Yet they risk being squeezed out of a market flooded with record debt issuance from rich countries and lenders suddenly converted to the virtues of extreme risk aversion.

In principle, both problems have the same solution. The IMF was founded to channel capital from surplus to deficit countries, but its currently available resources, about $200bn including borrowing agreements, are far from sufficient to do the job. Japan has offered an additional $100bn; this deal should be finalised as soon as possible and other surplus countries be encouraged to follow suit. That puts the onus on the other large savers of Asia: China, Singapore, South Korea and their many neighbours, which hoard vast quantities of reserves. International financial stability – and the savers' self-interest – requires making some of these reserves available.