Peter Hoskin

Europe’s latest tonic could worsen Osborne’s political problems

Seems that the latest plan to fix the eurozone involves cooking up a pot of alphabet soup. Over in Mexico, G20 finance ministers are currently discussing whether to blend two existing eurozone bailout funds, the EFSF and the ESM, with some extra money from the IMF. They hope that this EFSF-ESM-IMF mix will add up to about £1.25 trillion of ready cash for failing eurozone economies. ‘Look at the size of our fund,’ they will then say, as they try to settle nerves across Europe and beyond.

Details are lacking, but some things are already worth noting about this potential mega fund. First is that it seems to be coming about with permission from Germany. They had previously been opposed to organising another whip round, as this could make countries complacent about sorting out their own problems. But now, according to Reuters,

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