FRANKFURT (MNI) – Eurozone member states are planning to boost the
size of the ESM rescue fund from E500 billion to E2 trillion, German
weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.
The goal is “that the ESM have at its disposal a tool kit similar”
to its predecessor rescue fund, the EFSF, the magazine quoted a German
Finance Ministry spokeswoman as saying. “This is being discussed in
Brussels currently.”
Spiegel said that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble took a
favorable view of the plans for the ESM, but that Finland was preventing
a quick approval by the Eurogroup of Eurozone finance ministers.
The Finns, according to the report, object that the plans
constitute a major alteration of the ESM agreement and would therefore
have to be submitted to their parliament.
The idea is to leverage the ESM in the same way the EFSF was
authorized to leverage itself – mainly by encouraging the participation
of outside private investors. However, the EFSF has never been
particularly successful at using that potential leverage.
–Frankfurt bureau tel: +49-69-720-142. Email: dbarwick@mni-news.com
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