COPENHAGEN (MNI) – The size of the European firewall agreed on by
Eurozone finance ministers over the weekend is credible and will need no
further increases, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said
during a press conference following meetings here.
The new deal on the European firewall is “convincing,” Schaeuble
said, referring to the ministers’ agreement on funding capacity totaling
E800 billion, of which about E300 billion is money that has already been
committed.
“This is now credible and will not need future revisions,” the
German finance minister said. “The discussions and speculations have
ended now. This has been a good decision which is sustainable.”
“There is no sum with which you can convince financial markets. You
can only be convincing with structural measures,” Schaeuble added,
noting that Europe is on the right track in that regard but must
continue to implement promised reforms step-by-step.
Particularly as regards Spain, the latest crisis hot spot,
Schaeuble lauded the recent budget cuts announced by Madrid, which is
seeking to reduce its budget deficit to 5.3% of GDP this year and 3%
next year, from 8.5% in 2011. “I am absolutely confident in the Spanish
government and parliament,” Schaeuble said.
He also said that the ministers had created a working group to look
at options for an incremental approach to a financial transaction tax
should a full-blown EU-wide deal fail to materialize. “I am not dropping
the aim of a financial transaction tax. I want to go as far and as
broadly as possible,” Schaeuble said.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720 142 Email: jtreeck@marketnews.com
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