$955 Billion Bailout Plan for Euro Members Is Crafted; ECB Intervenes in Bond Markets

**SuuT** · 05-10-2010, 02:18 PM

BRUSSELS—The European Union agreed on an audacious €750 billion ($955 billion) bailout plan in an effort to stanch a burgeoning sovereign debt crisis that began in Greece but now threatens the stability of financial markets world-wide.

The money would be available to rescue euro-zone economies that get into financial troubles. The plan would consist of €440 billion of loans from euro-zone governments, €60 billion from an EU emergency fund, and €250 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Immediately after the announcement, the European Central Bank said it is ready to buy euro-zone government and private bonds "to ensure depth and liquidity" in markets, and the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would reopen swap lines with other central banks to make sure they had ample access to dollars.

Asian stock markets opened higher on Monday, boosted by news of the EU package.

The giant bailout package reflects the gravity of the crisis gripping Europe and growing fears that the situation could grow so dire as to hamper the fragile rebound in the global economy. It casts aside long-held notions that each EU nation should manage its own finances, opening an era in which members of the common currency take on unprecedented responsibilities for each others' fiscal troubles.

In an indication of the world-wide concern, the White House said President Barack Obama on Sunday spoke with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to urge "resolute action to build confidence in the markets."

With a self-imposed deadline to reach agreement before Asian markets opened Monday morning, ministers from all 27 EU nations aimed to assemble a package impressive enough to arrest spreading worries about the debt problems of euro-zone governments. Once confident they could quarantine Greece's turmoil, the EU's leaders have been grappling with gathering worries about the debt problems of euro-zone governments such as Portugal, Spain and Italy...

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