German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on during the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on during the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
French president Nicolas Sarkozy speaks after meeting young workers during a tour in Nice, southern France, devoted to training and professional integration of young people, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011.(AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
PARIS (AP) ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak by phone later Wednesday to discuss an upcoming EU summit that markets hope will produce a comprehensive solution to fight the debt crisis and save the 17-nation euro currency.
Sarkozy emphasized at a weekly cabinet meting on Wednesday that the Oct. 23 summit in Brussels "is a crucial moment, for Europe and for France," according to government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse.
Financial markets have become volatile, swinging on reports and comments about the success and scope of the plan.
Earlier this week, German finance chief Wolfgang Schaeuble dampened expectations by saying that a plan announced at Sunday's summit would not mark the end of the eurozone debt crisis and that some parts may need more time to be ironed out.
The expectation has been that eurozone governments are preparing a three-pronged solution to the debt crisis ? measures to boost the firepower of the bailout fund, a recapitalization of a large part of the banking sector and a plan to get the banks to take a bigger hit on their Greek debt holdings.
France and Germany disagree on the last point. Germany is pushing for banks to accept cuts of 50 percent to 60 percent on their Greek bondholdings, while France is insisting that only technical revisions should be made to a preliminary agreement reached with private investors in July. That deal called for a 21 percent loss on the bonds.
But the two countries, the eurozone's biggest, reportedly did find agreement on how to boost the impact of the eurozone bailout fund.
A report in The Guardian newspaper in London suggested France and Germany were putting the finishing touches on a massive expansion of the bailout fund, possibly to euro3 trillion ($4.1 trillion) from the current euro440 billion. The report caused markets to rise globally late Tuesday.
Associated Pressjustin timberlake kia sorento kia sorento james dean tv guide listings buddy holly buddy holly
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.