Europe Mulls Increasing Rescue Fund Firepower as Stocks Slide
This article is for subscribers only.
European finance chiefs said they may use leverage to increase the financial firepower of their regional bailout fund as a selloff in stocks signaled renewed concern that policy makers are failing to ward off a global economic slump.
The call to consider raising their fund’s ammunition -- made by French Finance Minister Francois Baroin and European Union Commissioner Olli Rehn -- suggests Europe’s policy makers are alert to concern among investors and foreign governments that they now lack the muscle to quell their debt turmoil if it spreads toward Italy and Spain.