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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Ratings Boss: Eurozone Crisis 'Getting Worse'


David Riley, head of global sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, said the situation in Europe had become "systemic".

"The eurozone crisis keeps on getting worse," he said on Jeff Randall Live.

"It's now become a systemic crisis - not just in terms of spreading the contagion to Italy, which is deeply worrying - but it's now become a systemic banking crisis."

His comments follow Fitch's downgrade of both Spanish and Italian government debt on Friday.

But Mr Riley stressed there was "broad recognition" of what needs to be done to help the region.

He said the solution includes dealing with Greece's debt, putting more money into banks and supporting weaker countries like Spain and Italy, which he described as "solvent but potentially illiquid".




Fitch Ratings downgraded both Italy's and Spain's government debt on Friday

But when pressed by Randall on whether Germany would bankroll these measures, he admitted this was a problem.

"It's not that they don't know the potential solution, it's that they don't want to put that one in place," he said.

"That's one of the reasons why they've been behind the market, because where the market is wanting to take them... Germany in particular doesn't want to go there."

He added:"(Prime Minister) David Cameron said they have weeks to do it, but I think this crisis could go on for months, not weeks."

EU leaders have postponed a key meeting on resolving the region's debt problems.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the meeting planned for October 17 would now take place the following week to enable leaders to finalise their strategy.

But within hours of the announcement, Chancellor George Osborne urged for a fast decision on the plan for the eurozone.

"We need a comprehensive solution that puts our largest trading market on a much more stable footing," he said in the House of Commons.

The Chancellor's comments follow assurances by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the weekend that they had agreed on a "long-lasting, complete package" to counter the eurozone's debt crisis.

Following discussions in Berlin, the pair also said they are ready to recapitalise the region's banks, but failed to reveal any details.

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