Germany at odds with Dutch and IMF boss over eurozone bailout fund

[alp227]

Germany threatened to undermine this week's €130bn (£110bn) deal to bail out Greece by refusing to bolster the firewalls set up to prevent the eurozone debt crisis from spreading.

As markets dipped all over Europe amid fears that Greece would never be able to meet its debt obligations, Angela Merkel's chief spokesman said Berlin saw "no necessity" to enhance the planned €500bn European stability mechanism (ESM), the new bailout fund due to be in place from July.

Highlighting how unpopular aid for Greece is in Germany, opposition to the bailout deal was growing within Merkel's coalition on Wednesday. Several MPs from Merkel's conservatives and her junior partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), said they planned to oppose the package, meaning that she would be unlikely to win next week's parliamentary vote on the deal without the humiliation of relying on her socialist and green opponents .

Merkel's weakening domestic position came as her government's stance on the ESM left Germany at loggerheads with not only the Dutch government but also the IMF and its managing director, Christine Lagarde. Both want the ESM to embrace funds still untouched within the current rescue fund, the European financial stability facility (EFSF).

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/22/germany-at-odds-dutch-imf-boss

[Scootaloo]

1. "Aid for Greece," that gets funnier every time I read it

If only any of that money were going to the Greeks.

[CAPHAVOC]

2. Where is the Deed?

Germany should insist on a title search before it buys Greece. It may be hard to evict the Greeks.

[Yavin4]

3. Precisely. It's Aid for the Banksters Who Are Sitting on CDS

If Greece were allowed to default, the Greek people would survive. The bondholders would survive.

The banks? Not so much.