France blames crisis on US failure over Lehman

PARIS: French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Wednesday traced the start of the gobal financial meltdown to the United States' "dramatic" decision not to save the Lehman Brothers bank.

Lehman sought bankruptcy protection on September 15, after frantic talks failed to find a buyer for the 600-billion-dollar Wall Street giant and the US government decided not to step in and save it.

"As far as I am concerned, that was a mistake," Lagarde said, in an interview with RTL radio, complaining that a government bail-out would have reassured markets. "When you let one domino fall, the others follow."

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, one of Wall Street's most established banks, sparked turmoil on financial markets across the world.