BRUSSELS (MNI) – Eurozone governments need to boost their crisis
funds to at least E1 trillion, the head of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday.
In a message aimed directly at Eurozone finance ministers who will
meet Friday and Saturday in Copenhagen to discuss an increase in the
Eurozone’s firewalls, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said that the
current funding level is not enough to restore market confidence.
“A credible financial firewall will provide governments with the
breathing space they need to focus crucially on revitalizing Europe’s
economic growth and competitiveness,” Gurria said.
The E1 trillion figure is substantially more than the E700 billion
that German chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday she would support
and slightly more than the E940 billion recommended by the European
Commission.
Eurozone governments are hoping to secure the backing of the G20
for a substantial increase in the crisis funds of the International
Monetary Fund, but the United States and others have said they would
only support such a move if Europe does enough to reinforce its own
firewalls first.
–Brussels newsroom: +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$$CR$,MFX$$$,MGX$$$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$]
