USATODAYmoney: Geithner 'encouraged' by progress in Europe http://t.co/PvrwsOZG
Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/USATODAYmoney/status/144129293042188288
Dec 06, 2011
Geithner 'encouraged' by fiscal progress in Europe
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
2011.12.06 12:38 PM
As he hopscotches from Germany to France to Italy this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sounds upbeat about the prospects of Europe surmounting a debt crisis that threatens the U.S. economy as well.
Geithner and Undersecretary for International Affairs Lael Brainard are holding meetings with central bankers and leaders from those three countries and Spain in the days preceding Friday's summit of European Union leaders, which is intended to firm up rescue plans for the troubled 17-nation euro zone.
The Obama administration's goal: getting European leaders to bolster the "firewall" being set up to prevent any nations from defaulting on their debts. That will require a bigger financial commitment from countries or institutions with the bucks to back it up -- perhaps Germany, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund or a combination of them all. (U.S. officials said their position remains the same on no new taxpayer resources for the IMF.)
Geithner met Tuesday with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt, then with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble in Berlin, before leaving for Paris in the evening. His first-day comments were positive.
"I am very encouraged by the developments in Europe in the past few weeks," he said, including commitments in Italy, Spain and Greece for fiscal changes and steps toward a "fiscal compact."
"This, of course, will take time," he said. "It will take a very substantial commitment, and a sustained commitment, of political will."
The firewall, he said, should "provide the oxygen necessary for economic growth" and keep interest rates sustainable.
Schauble said euro zone leaders "have made huge progress" and are aware that "huge expectations are attached to the summit." The objective, he said, is to send a "clear signal" that will "restore confidence in the markets."
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/12/geithner-encouraged-by-fiscal-progress-in-europe/
No comments:
Post a Comment