NEWSMAX: …The centerpiece of any prospective deal will likely be an overhaul of Europe’s euro750 billion ($1 trillion) bailout fund, which was set up last spring alongside the euro110 billion bailout of Greece to soothe financial markets anxious over some countries’ mounting debt levels. So far, it hasn’t really convinced, with Ireland following Greece in the bailout club and mounting fears that the debt crisis could spread to Portugal and Spain.
Both the European Union’s executive Commission and the European Central Bank have said that the fund needs more powers and more funds at its disposal to deal with any emergency that may arise. Such new powers could include the right to buy government bonds on the open market to support their prices and keep vulnerable countries’ funding costs in check.
“We shall improve our current existing financial backstops so that the so-called market forces cannot even have the slightest doubt about our capacity to act even in the most stressed scenarios,” said the EU’s Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn…. (more)
