BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Financial Stability Fund has
sufficient funds for now, Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance Luc Frieden
said on Tuesday.
The E440 billion EFSF was set up earlier this year to provide loans
to needy Eurozone states. So far only Ireland has tapped it for cash,
but some fear that further bailouts – perhaps of Spain and Portugal –
could test the capacity of the fund.
“For the time being… the funds available in the EFSF are
sufficient,” Frieden told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU
finance ministers in Brussels.
“We have shown during the past few months that we are able to do
determined and coordinated action fast,” he added, in response to a
question about how quickly the capacity of the EFSF would be able to be
increased if needed.
Frieden said the topic of issuing common Eurozone bonds was not off
the table because it wasn’t discussed at last night’s meeting of
Eurozone finance ministers.
Some ministers see issuing Eurozone bonds as a way to stem the
current debt crisis, while others – including Germany – oppose the idea.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
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