Eurozone needs to instil more confidence - George Osborne

THE EUROZONE needs to do more to support its currency George Osborne has said on a visit to China.

He said action on the Greek debt crisis was needed to tackle instability in the European currency.

During a visit to China the Chancellor said there had been little evidence that pooled resources were being used to instill confidence in the markets.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I think what the euro needs to do is show convincingly that it can stand behind its currency,” he said.

“We haven’t actually seen much evidence of the pooled resources needed by the euro to actually provide confidence to the market that they will stand by their own currency.

“There’s lots of good signs that they are getting there and there are various summits planned for the next few months to ensure those resources are there.

“But I think that is what they need to do as well as resolve the Greek situation, I would say almost more so than the downgrading. The ongoing uncertainty about how they are going to write off some of the private sector debt in Greece is an almost greater source of instability in the eurozone.”

Mr Osborne said Britain would be prepared to make extra funding available if the IMF made a strong case.

Related topics: