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France and Germany head to head over scope of bailout fund
FRANCE was lobbying yesterday to overcome German opposition to giving the European Central Bank a central role in bolstering the eurozone’s bailout fund, arguing it was the only way to draw a definitive line under widening debt problems.
Setting a Wednesday deadline for a deal at a summit starting yesterday called to resolve the euro crisis, leaders were seeking agreement on a means to boost their 440 billion euro (US$610 billion) European Financial Stability Fund by enough to support the region’s undercapitalized banks and stop the crisis hitting economies such as Italy and Spain.
Paris - with support from most of the 17 eurozone states, including Italy and Spain - argues the EFSF should be given a banking license, allowing the fund to leverage its lending capacity by tapping almost unlimited credit from the ECB’s lending window.
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