BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AFP) – The euro rose in volatile early Asia-Pacific trade Monday as crisis-hit Europe worked overnight to agree a monster bailout package that diplomats said could reach up to 600 billion euros.
There was no official confirmation of an agreement after nearly 10 hours of emergency talks between EU finance ministers in Brussels, but the early signs were positive, with the euro recovering to US$1.2884 in Tokyo early morning trade, up from US$1.2755 in New York late Friday.
The dramatic bid to raise a game-changing European financial war chest worth 775 billion in dollars, followed urgent telephone calls between US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
As the first big stock market traders warmed up in Tokyo after a sleepless weekend for euro defenders, the eurozone sought to reassure world markets after a slump last week triggered alarm among G7 and G20 powers.
France and Germany were in „complete agreement” on the planned measures, according to Sarkozy’s office, which ultimately involved a pan-European cry for help to the International Monetary Fund.
The figures only emerged after Merkel lost her coalition’s majority in the upper German house, as angry voters punished Berlin for its U-turn in agreeing a 110-billion-euro international bailout for Greece – already dubbed the „fattest cheque in history” by the tabloid Bild.
Desperate to prevent a haemmorhaghing of confidence on markets with debts and deficits already engulfing Portugal, Spain and Italy, Berlin bit the bullet by proposing that euro countries send for the IMF.
The emergency bailout package would be a mixture of „bilateral loans, loan guarantees and credit lines,” a European Union diplomatic source told AFP, to be made available to threatened members of the 16-nation eurozone only.
It would be made up of 440 billion euros, if necessary, from eurozone countries and another 100 billion euros from the IMF, the Washington-based global lender of last resort.
The remaining 60 billion euros of loan funds would come from the European Commission, the executive for the EU’s 27 member states.
The source added that the aid model was „very close to the system put in place for Greece,” which won loan commitments over three years in exchange for radical cuts and other economic reforms.
The facility would be unprecedented in public finance history if taken up, dwarfing the Greek rescue only ratified by the IMF earlier on Sunday.
„The key is that something strong” is thrown down as a gauntlet to speculators, said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.
„We will do whatever is necessary,” Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado, chairing the EU crisis talks, had insisted beforehand, with Anders Borg of non-euro Sweden saying that „we cannot afford disappointment with the markets.”
Ministers had been tasked with heading off predatory threats to government finances, commercial banks and wider economic recovery, what Austria’s Josef Proll labelled „the biggest challenge since the euro’s creation.”
Early drama saw Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble hospitalised after suffering an allergic reaction to new medication, The wheelchair-bound veteran handed the negotiating mandate to the interior minister and was kept in overnight for observation.
The talks were also marked by dispute as Britain’s Labour government, in what could well be its last act in power, put paid to a proposal for all 27 EU nations to guarantee massive new borrowings on bond markets in the bloc’s name.
„What we will not do and what we can’t do is provide support for the euro,” British Finance Minister Alistair Darling said amid power-sharing talks at home that were likely to deliver a new Conservative-led government within days.
Tory leader David Cameron could nevertheless be faced with a hangover from the commission funding element, given Britain is one of the biggest contributors to the EU’s budget that would be used as collateral.
Essentially, Europe wants to create a kind of „bank” to leverage vast borrowings and bail out troubled economies – as governments did with their banks during the global financial crisis – while keeping interest rates down.
An existing 50-billion-euro crisis facility at the EU’s disposal was available only to non-euro members, and has broadly been used up to help Romania, Hungary, Latvia.
The talks also involved a drive to nudge the European Central Bank towards implementing what traders and analysts refer to as a „nuclear” option, agreeing to buy euro countries’ bonds or accept toxic eurozone government debt as collateral.

Read the article on AsiaOne News

Euro up as Europe races to fix monster bailout

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AFP) – The euro rose in volatile early Asia-Pacific trade Monday as crisis-hit Europe worked overnight to agree a monster bailout package that diplomats said could reach up to 600 billion euros.
There was no official confirmation of an agreement after nearly 10 hours of emergency talks between EU finance ministers in Brussels, but the early signs were positive, with the euro recovering to US$1.2884 in Tokyo early morning trade, up from US$1.2755 in New York late Friday.
The dramatic bid to raise a game-changing European financial war chest worth 775 billion in dollars, followed urgent telephone calls between US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
As the first big stock market traders warmed up in Tokyo after a sleepless weekend for euro defenders, the eurozone sought to reassure world markets after a slump last week triggered alarm among G7 and G20 powers.
France and Germany were in „complete agreement” on the planned measures, according to Sarkozy’s office, which ultimately involved a pan-European cry for help to the International Monetary Fund.
The figures only emerged after Merkel lost her coalition’s majority in the upper German house, as angry voters punished Berlin for its U-turn in agreeing a 110-billion-euro international bailout for Greece – already dubbed the „fattest cheque in history” by the tabloid Bild.
Desperate to prevent a haemmorhaghing of confidence on markets with debts and deficits already engulfing Portugal, Spain and Italy, Berlin bit the bullet by proposing that euro countries send for the IMF.
The emergency bailout package would be a mixture of „bilateral loans, loan guarantees and credit lines,” a European Union diplomatic source told AFP, to be made available to threatened members of the 16-nation eurozone only.
It would be made up of 440 billion euros, if necessary, from eurozone countries and another 100 billion euros from the IMF, the Washington-based global lender of last resort.
The remaining 60 billion euros of loan funds would come from the European Commission, the executive for the EU’s 27 member states.
The source added that the aid model was „very close to the system put in place for Greece,” which won loan commitments over three years in exchange for radical cuts and other economic reforms.
The facility would be unprecedented in public finance history if taken up, dwarfing the Greek rescue only ratified by the IMF earlier on Sunday.
„The key is that something strong” is thrown down as a gauntlet to speculators, said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.
„We will do whatever is necessary,” Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado, chairing the EU crisis talks, had insisted beforehand, with Anders Borg of non-euro Sweden saying that „we cannot afford disappointment with the markets.”
Ministers had been tasked with heading off predatory threats to government finances, commercial banks and wider economic recovery, what Austria’s Josef Proll labelled „the biggest challenge since the euro’s creation.”
Early drama saw Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble hospitalised after suffering an allergic reaction to new medication, The wheelchair-bound veteran handed the negotiating mandate to the interior minister and was kept in overnight for observation.
The talks were also marked by dispute as Britain’s Labour government, in what could well be its last act in power, put paid to a proposal for all 27 EU nations to guarantee massive new borrowings on bond markets in the bloc’s name.
„What we will not do and what we can’t do is provide support for the euro,” British Finance Minister Alistair Darling said amid power-sharing talks at home that were likely to deliver a new Conservative-led government within days.
Tory leader David Cameron could nevertheless be faced with a hangover from the commission funding element, given Britain is one of the biggest contributors to the EU’s budget that would be used as collateral.
Essentially, Europe wants to create a kind of „bank” to leverage vast borrowings and bail out troubled economies – as governments did with their banks during the global financial crisis – while keeping interest rates down.
An existing 50-billion-euro crisis facility at the EU’s disposal was available only to non-euro members, and has broadly been used up to help Romania, Hungary, Latvia.
The talks also involved a drive to nudge the European Central Bank towards implementing what traders and analysts refer to as a „nuclear” option, agreeing to buy euro countries’ bonds or accept toxic eurozone government debt as collateral.

Read the article on AsiaOne News

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