EU pledge on Greece fails to calm fears

Ben Hall, Tony Barber and David Oakley
Financial Times
February 11, 2010

A pledge by the European Union to stand by crisis-hit Greece punctured hopes in the financial markets yesterday of a swift rescue and raised fears of renewed selling.

[efoods]Efforts by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the French and German leaders, to paper over differences between Berlin and Paris on how to deal with the Greek debt crisis led to a summit statement in Brussels that stopped short of providing immediate support for Athens.

The leaders of the 27-nation bloc promised “determined and co-ordinated action if needed to safeguard stability” of the eurozone, which has been shaken by turmoil in bond markets amid fears that Greece’s debt problems could spread.

The accord amounted to an implicit assurance to help Athens if it had problems in refinancing debt in April and May.

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This article was posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 6:09 pm

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