Greece Waits Nervously for Vital Bailout Funds

Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve the next tranche of loans to Greece on Tuesday although the money is unlikely to be disbursed before December and a deal on debt reduction may need further talks.

EFSF optimistic about German court verdict on ESM

MUMBAI: The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is optimistic about the impending verdict by the German court on a petition challenging the constitutional feasibility of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Italy plays down prospects it will tap EU rescue funds

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy does not at the moment need to ask the euro zone's rescue funds to buy its government bonds in the markets to bring down borrowing costs, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco and Cabinet Undersecretary Antonio Catricala said on Sunday.

German minister dismisses talk of Spain debt purchases

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble threw cold water Saturday on speculation that the eurozone's bailout fund will buy Spanish public debt.

Spain feels debt heat, Greece way off bailout terms

MADRID/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spain paid the second highest yield on short-term debt since the birth of the euro at an auction on Tuesday, and EU officials said Greece had little hope of meeting the terms of its bailout, casting fresh doubt on its future in the euro zone.

Angela Merkel slaps down direct bank aid at crunch summit

ROME: German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated on Friday her opposition to allowing Europe's crisis funds to recapitalise debt-stricken banks directly, stressing that EU treaties did not allow this.

Spain relieved, angry over humiliating bank rescue

MADRID (AP) — Spain's grinding economic misery will get worse this year, despite the country's request for a European financial lifeline of up to €100 billion ($125 billion) to save its banks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday.

OECD urges eurozone rescue fund boost to 1tn euros

The head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said that the eurozone needs to double its bailout fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.3tn, £836m).

S&P Lowers Euro Rescue Fund Outlook to 'Negative'

Standard & Poor’s on Monday lowered its outlook on the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the fund created for bailing out debt-laden eurozone countries.

Bailout: Revamping the fund

THE EUROPEAN Financial Stability Facility was created in panic in the course of a frantic weekend in May last year. Now it is set for a second overhaul in less than three months. This part of Europe’s “firewall” against the risk of contagion from Greece is designed to protect distressed sovereign states.

Japan may buy more Euro bailout bonds-Nikkei

TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Japan plans to buy more bonds issued by Europe's bailout fund to help contain the euro-zone debt crisis, the Nikkei business daily reported, as financial markets remain jittery about growing prospects for a default by Greece.

Japan, which already holds 20 percent of the total bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), will decide the purchase amounts and timeline based on issuance terms and market conditions, the daily said.

Bonds show muted reaction to German vote

Australian bonds have opened largely unchanged after Germany's parliament passed a crucial vote to increase its contribution to the European bailout fund, aimed at avoiding a eurozone recession.

Of 611 German MPs present, 523 voted in favour, meaning that Germany in the future will be guaranteeing loans to the bailout fund, the so-called European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, of up to 211 billion euros ($A294.57 billion) rather than 123 billion euros so far.

Funds Injection not panacea for ills of world economy

German lawmakers are expected to vote for a bigger bail-out today. However, the vote by the biggest European nation to boost the firepower of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) alone will not permanently end the euro-zone debt woes, especially if European Union leaders continue to avoid the painful but necessary process that Asian countries underwent following the 1997 currency crisis.

Kasikornbank's market and economic research chief Kobsidthi Silpachai said both currency crises showed the dark side of currency peg and currency pool, which - for stability of their currencies - demanded that the countries lose their autonomy in monetary and fiscal management to the currency host country's authorities.

Merkel dismisses talk of increasing EU stability facility

Ahead of talks in Berlin last night, Greek prime minister George Papandreou insisted his government was making a “superhuman” reform effort and warned Germans that sniping about Greece was “frustrating”.

“After this period of pain, I promise you that we Greeks will soon fight our way back to growth and prosperity,” he told the Federation of German Industries. “If [Greek] people feel only punishment and scorn, this crisis will not become an opportunity – it will become a lost cause.”

EU fund could be expanded

EU monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn has said talks are under way to expand the region’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), so that it could insure trillions of euro in debt as it seeks to get on top of the euro zone financial crisis.

The International Monetary Fund annual meetings wrapped up in Washington yesterday with widespread concern over the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, but no immediate consensus on the solution.

ESRB says EU financial stability at risk, hurts growth

FRANKFURT, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The knock-on effects from the European sovereign debt crisis have led to considerably higher risks of financial instability in Europe, the continent's super-watchdog, the European Systemic Risk Board said on Wednesday.

"Risks to the stability of the EU financial system have increased considerably," the ESRB said in a statement.

BRICS countries bought EFSF debt: report

The BRICS emerging market powerhouses have already bought debt through the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and could buy more, a potential help to struggling euro zone economies, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Monday.

"We're very pleased to see already some BRICS countries investing in our debt," Christophe Frankel, chief financial officer of the EFSF, told Valor Economico, Brazil's leading financial daily.

Geithner to urge bigger EFSF, rapid action: source

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is likely to urge euro zone finance ministers on Friday to speed up ratification of changes to their bailout fund and consider boosting its size, an EU source said on Tuesday.

The official said Washington was worried that the euro zone was not acting fast enough to enhance the EFSF fund and that the stability of the global financial system was at stake.

Slovak govt approves EFSF boost, risks from parlt

BRATISLAVA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The Slovak government approved a plan on Wednesday to strengthen the euro zone's joint bailout fund, but it will face an uphill battle in parliament, whose consent is required to conclude the ratification process.

Euro zone leaders agreed in July to allow the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to give precautionary loans to countries under attack in financial markets and, in some cases, to buy sovereign bonds.

ECB tells EU to step up reforms, says bond-buying temporary

PARIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The current and incoming head of the European Central Bank demanded on Monday that European governments quickly implement a strengthening of a regional bailout fund and press ahead with wider reforms.

With some euro zone states dragging their heels in approving the reform of the European Financial Stability Facility agreed in July, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi warned any delay risked worsening the euro zone's debt crisis.