Economy

Could huge safety net be strong enough to protect euro?

By Wu Liming (Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-11 14:50

The European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday pledged a bailout package worth nearly 1 trillion US dollars to defend the embattled euro.

On the same day, the European Central Bank (ECB) took an unprecedented step to announce that it would buy government and private debts in the euro zone.

Obviously, the two decisions were aimed at building a huge safety net to shield the euro zone's weakest nations like Greece from relentless attacks.

The question is: could the safety net be strong enough to keep the euro, the second global reserve currency next to US dollar, in safety?

The huge package, consisting of emergency measures worth 500 billion euros (670 billion US dollars) and 250 billion euros (335 billion US dollars) from the IMF, surprised the world in terms of size and scale, showing the firm and resolute determination of the EU and the IMF to win the battle.

European economists have estimated that if Portugal, Ireland and Spain, or the so-called PIGS states, eventually required similar three-year bailouts to that received by Greece, the total cost could be 500 billion euros.

That is to say, the package vowed by the EU itself is capable of covering it.

What's more, the ECB's "U-turn" in giving the green light to buying government and private debts in the euro zone, has added the strength and potential of the safety net.

This implies pushing the "nuclear button" as some analysts called, who believed such unprecedented step would be vital to calm the markets.