European leaders were urged by global finance chiefs to decisively deal with the continent’s debt turmoil within the next week, setting an October 22 deadline for the plan, Bloomberg Business Week is reporting. Finance ministers and central bankers were prominently discussing Europe’s financial woes in Paris during this week’s Group of 20 meeting. They also called for the continent to maximize the firepower of their 440 billion-euro ($611 billion USD) bailout fund.
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said European officials “will have left Paris under no misunderstanding that there is a huge amount of pressure on them to deliver a solution to the euro-zone crisis.” He added that the October 22 meeting in Brussels “is the moment people are expecting something quite impressive.”
Stocks grew in the optimism that policy makers can resolve the crisis, which also pushed the euro to its biggest gain against the dollar in more than two years. European governments are making a plan to help the financial crisis, which includes writing down Greek banks by as much as 50 percent and establishing a backstop for banks.
The G-20 released a statement, saying “We look forward to further work to maximize the impact of the European Stability Facility in order to avoid contagion.” It added that it’s working towards “the outcome of the European Council on October 23 to decisively address the current challenges through a comprehensive plan.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
