The market, of course, is very, very happy. I wonder what the IMF terms were? BRUSSELS — Global markets rallied Monday, reversing the steep decline
May 10, 2010

The market, of course, is very, very happy. I wonder what the IMF terms were?

BRUSSELS — Global markets rallied Monday, reversing the steep declines of recent days, after European leaders agreed to provide a huge rescue package of nearly $1 trillion to combat the debt crisis that has engulfed Europe, and central banks began injecting cash into the financial system.

In an extraordinary meeting that lasted into the early hours of Monday morning, finance ministers from the European Union agreed on a deal that would provide $560 billion in new loans and $76 billion under an existing lending program to countries facing instability. Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, who announced the deal, also said the International Monetary Fund was prepared to give up to $321 billion separately.

Officials were hoping the size of the program — a total of $957 billion — would signal a “shock and awe” commitment to such troubled countries as Greece, Portugal and Spain, in the same vein as the $700 billion package the United States government provided to help its own ailing financial institutions in 2008.

On top of the unprecedented sum, the European Central Bank reversed its position of just a few days ago and said it would buy government and corporate debt. And the world’s leading central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, announced a joint intervention to make more dollars available for interbank lending.

Central bank purchases of euro-zone government bonds began Monday, although the E.C.B. did not immediately release details.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon