UN General Assembly
2008

most affected by rising food prices. The direct relationship between poverty and rising food prices should lead us to develop new and more ambitious formulas for international cooperation that are commensurate with the magnitude of the problem and take into account all aspects of poverty in a comprehensive manner. Against that backdrop, I wish to highlight a new threat to the possibilities of development: a grave international financial crisis whose scale is still unknown. At its roots lies an unfortunate and irresponsible combination of regulatory loopholes, real estate inflation, reckless mortgages and financial leverages without a sound basis in the real economy. This could lead the world into a crisis of confidence and undermine the considerable progress that developing regions have made in their fight against poverty. Given those phenomena, we await decisive responses and actions by the developed countries to support the financial system and avert the great risks of this crisis. In the case of Peru, I can say that this turbulence will not cause us to abandon our ongoing policies of investing, creating productive jobs, increasing tax