Monday, December 19, 2011

More EU blame heading towards Britain

The tone of a report based on French sourcing in the Australian press, linked here, makes pretty clear where the Euro Group are heading next. Some quotes:

The source said the aim was still to reach the 200 billion euros target set by EU leaders at a December 9 summit, despite a British refusal to stump up its roughly 30-billion-euro share based on IMF quotas.
 

During the conference call, Britain's finance minister George Osborne set down clear conditions for any eventual aid, a London government official said, adding that the British Treasury "will not contribute to anything that is only available to euro zone countries."

The British government source added: "Nor will we participate in an increase in IMF resources that only comes from EU countries without the participation of other G20 countries" outside the EU.

Britain's finance minister George Osborne refused EU counterparts' pleas Monday for a 30-billion-euro ($USUS39 billion) loan to the IMF for use in stabilising the euro zone.
 

With a conference call still ongoing just after 6:30 pm (1720 GMT), a London government official said Osborne articulated the position of the British Treasury, which was that "we will not contribute to anything that is only available to euro zone countries."
If the figures being bandied about before the conference telephone call are to be believed AND reports that the Euro Group have approved the €150 Billion in extra IMF funding are also true, then France has just upped its commitments, already enormous, by anoth €30 Billion and Germany by another €45 Billion, assuming, of course that Spain and Italy will also meet their smaller proportionate shares of these new 150 Billions of funding!

How much longer can all this complete madness continue?

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3 Comments:

Blogger WitteringsfromWitney said...

IT: Whether we agree to provide funds via the G20, it boils down to semantics and a 'face-saving' exercise that will have been carried out by Osborne at the behest of Cameron.

And how to we know that Osborne said "Look chaps, for domestic politics I cant be seen to agree to this - but hang on for the G20 next year and you'll get your money?

Just asking?

9:08 PM  
Blogger WitteringsfromWitney said...

correction: How do we not know that Osborne......

9:09 PM  
Blogger Martin said...

That certainly seems to be the essence of reports from Paris this morning!

1:28 PM  

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