G20 say no: Eurozone must up bailout funding first

Finance ministers at the G20 summit in Mexico have said that the eurozone must increase funds available for bailouts before the block would consider upping funding. After meeting on February 25 and 26, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a joint statement that they want the eurozone to check and strengthen its means to support severely indebted nations and shore up the euro further against risks. “Euro area countries will reassess the strength of their support facilities in March. This will provide an essential input in our ongoing consideration to mobilize resources to the IMF,” reads the G20 statement. Stock markets have reacted negatively to the news and Germany faces increasing pressure from without to boost available funding set against discontent within, as its economy struggles to grow, according to the majority of commentators. “We have suggested an increase in IMF lending capacity of USD 500 billion, which would be combined with an equally credible, high quality and properly sized firewall at the European level,” said International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. The G20 statement does not solely comprise doom and gloom – recent structural reforms in Europe are welcomed and the market improvements following the European Central Bank's (ECB) efforts are praised. But as with nearly all recent comment, the only certainty seems to be uncertainty for the foreseeable future. The statement explicitly mentions oil prices and unemployment levels as areas of concern. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com