TIMES ONLINE: The euro rebounded in early trade today as European finance ministers prepared to begin a second day of talks on Greece’s debt crisis after telling the country that it has 30 days to prove its austerity plan will work or introduce new measures to control its deficit.
The European single currency jumped to $1.3757 by afternoon in New York from $1.3600 late Monday after assurances from EU states that Greece could count on their support if the situation showed no signs of improvement.
However, finance ministers said that Greece would have to prove that it was on track to meet its target of cutting its deficit by four percentage points this year or come up with further measures.
The offer of further help came after Greece warned that last week’s offer of support by EU leaders may not be enough calm market anxiety about Greece and other governments in the region, such as Spain and Portugal.
However, Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and chairman of the finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels, said: “Financial markets are completely wrong if they think they can destroy Greece.” >>> Peter Stiff | Tuesday, February 16, 2010
