FRANKFURT (MNI) – The E440-billion European Financial Stability
Facility will be up and running by the end of July and is expected to
receive the highest credit rating, EFSF chief executive Klaus Regling
told the Financial Times.
“I am confident that we will get the best possible rating, maybe
some time in August,” Regling said in an interview published in the
business daily on Wednesday. “I think the point that 16 finance
ministers of mature economies promise to do whatever is necessary to get
the best rating is worth a lot.”
Regling outlined a number of measures that had been taken to ensure
a triple-A rating, including a cash reserve from fees levied on
countries who use the fund, as well as guarantees from Eurozone member
states to pay as much as 20% over their agreed portion of the fund.
The EFSF head also stressed that the fund would be temporary in
nature, with a lifespan of only three years. However, the life of the
fund could be extended should loans remain outstanding, Regling said.
Eurozone members had agreed to set up the fund in early May in a
bid to ease market concerns that some of the 16 member states could
default on their sovereign debts.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; e-mail: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
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