German Leader Rules Out Rapid Action on the Euro
[The New York Times]
PARIS — Quashing recent speculation of a softening in Germany’s hard-line stance on the euro, Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated on Thursday her firm opposition either to bonds issued jointly by the euro zone countries or to an expansion of the role of the European Central Bank as quick responses to the sovereign debt crisis.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, center, and Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, met on finance issues in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday. “Nothing has changed in my position,” she said at a news conference with Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Strasbourg, in eastern France.
But with signs of spreading contagion — a weak bond sale on Wednesday in Germany that lifted rates there, rates on sovereign debt rising to unsustainable levels in Italy and Spain, and interbank lending in Europe beginning to dry up — questions remained about just how long Germany can resist the persistent calls for action.
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