The US referred to last week’s meeting between Barack Obama and President Cristina Fernández as “warm,” but once again “encouraged” Argentina to pay off the debt it holds with US bondholders and companies.
Major emerging economies are ready to provide financial help to the Euro zone via the International Monetary Fund but in return want commitments to reform the IMF to be implemented, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
The package of measures agreed by European leaders this month to stem their debt crisis will only work “if all elements are implemented”, German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said in an interview Monday.
European Union leaders announced an agreement early Thursday in Brussels on debt crisis measures including a hard-fought deal with private sector investors to write down Greek bonds by 50%.
Brazil could experience a flight of capital should the European sovereign-debt crisis worsen, and the country may use interest rates and US dollar reserves to combat contagion, an International Monetary Fund director said.
Proposals to double the size of the IMF as part of a broader international response to Europe's debt crisis immediately ran into resistance from the United States and others, burying the idea for now and firmly putting the onus back on Europe.
China has the scope to respond if global economic risks materialize, and the country's response could partially but not entirely offset the impact of a global crisis, the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific director said on Thursday.
Members of the Paris Club group of creditors want Argentina to repay an estimated 9 billion dollars in defaulted debt within three years and to make a big initial payment, Buenos Aires newspaper La Nacion reported over the weekend.
European banks may need more than 100 billion Euros to withstand the sovereign debt crisis, Ireland estimated, ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to work out how to recapitalise the lenders.
Latin American policy makers must be prepared to use interest rate cuts and consider fiscal measures to protect their economies in the event that the global economy stalls, the International Monetary Fund said.