Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The elimination of the gap between banks' credit losses and the capital they've raised since the subprime crisis began may prove a ``mirage'' as the economic slump spurs more defaults, according to Espen Furnes of Storebrand Asset Management.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows that banks worldwide raised about $638 billion of new capital since July 2007, including $246 billion this quarter as governments from the U.S. to the U.K. and the Netherlands bought stakes to shore up the financial system. Banks reported $659 billion of credit losses and asset writedowns since the start of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

``The capital injections in the last year could easily be a mirage,'' said Furnes, an Oslo-based money manager at Storebrand, which oversees the equivalent of $48 billion. ``A lot of the losses we've seen so far have stemmed either directly from U.S. subprime or indirectly from the massive opening in credit spreads. We've not seen any significant losses from the core loan books.''

At least 22 European lenders including ING Groep NV and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc raised about $274 billion since July last year, surpassing their reported credit losses of $223 billion, the data show. Recessions in Europe and the U.S. may cause more borrowers to default and further reduce the value of corporate and consumer loans held by banks, according to Furnes.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Thompson in London at sthompson17@bloomberg.net; Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2008 09:00 EDT