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EU president sees no need to boost rescue fund

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-17 10:55
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BRUSSELS - President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said on Thursday he saw no need to increase the existing rescue fund at the moment but did not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future.

Van Rompuy said that only 4 percent of the bailout fund has been used until now, so the question of expanding it was not posed during the summit meeting.

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But the president did not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future.

"The heads of state and government of the Eurozone stand ready to do whatever is required to ensure the stability of the Eurozone as a whole," he stressed.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso echoed Van Rompuy's words, saying "we are ready to do whatever it takes to safeguard the stability of the Eurozone."

Some EU member states have advocated for enlargement of the fund to dispel market concerns, but Germany is against the idea on the ground that only a small portion of the fund has been used.

The EU set up a 750-billion-euro rescue fund jointly with the International Monetary Fund in May to bail out countries which may follow the suit of Greece. The provisional mechanism will expire in mid-2013.