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Friday, June 29, 2012

Europe's next big steps to tackle crisis





— Once that is done, the eurozone's two bailout funds, known by their acronyms EFSF/ESM, will be able to recapitalize banks directly, rather than first handing over the money to the government of the country where they are based.

— They agreed that countries that are working to control their budgets could tap the rescue funds without having to go through the tough austerity measures that Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to accept in return for their bailout cash.

Yet as a precondition for membership in the eurozone, all countries have already agreed to limit budget deficits to 3 percent of their gross domestic product and total debt levels of no more than 60 percent of GDP.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com