In the early hours of May 10th, after a rocky few days in the bond markets and a tense weekend, European Union finance ministers agreed on a €500 billion ($600 billion) "stabilisation fund" for euro-zone countries that have trouble financing their debts. The eu itself, by pushing its existing credit lines to the limit, could raise only €60 billion of that total, and even that needed the backing of countries outside the euro, such as Britain. To fund the other €440 billion, euro-zone countries decided to create a new entity: a special-purpose vehicle (spv) backed by the credit of its 16 members, plus Sweden and Poland, which said they would join in.
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