The European Central Bank has provided a further €530 billion ($713 billion) of cheap three-year money to 800 banks across the EU, in a bid to make more money available to businesses and further ease government borrowing costs.
Ireland will hold a referendum on whether to accept the EU fiscal compact treaty which imposes strict new budgetary discipline on each state, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Tuesday.
The government has been working hard to cut spending and implement key economic reforms in the face of a steep recession and a record high jobless rate of 14 percent.
The size of the fund would be “essential input” when G20 nations consider providing more resources to the IMF to assist the region, finance ministers and central bankers from leading economies said in their final communiqué after two days of meetings in Mexico City.
Passage of the law, which includes controversial measures that effectively strong-arm investors into the agreement, clears the way for Greece to formally launch its debt-structuring program on Friday.
In its November forecast, the European Commission predicted that only Greece and Portugal would contract this year. Now, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Slovenia are expected to shrink in 2012.
Many investors remain concerned that a Greek general election expected to take place in April will bring in a government unwilling or unable to implement tough austerity measures.
Europe is China’s largest trading partner, with trade worth around $740 billion flowing between the two in 2011. Last week the IMF warned that an escalation of the EU debt crisis could halve China’s growth rates.
Follow us: