Eurozone at critical point and must act fast

The eurozone is at a critical point and it must act fast to safeguard the region’s financial stability, Chairman of the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said. There is “no more time to lose,” the (dpa) quoted Juncker as saying in an interview with German newspaper (Sueddeutsche Zeitung) published Monday. “The world is discussing whether there will still be a eurozone in a few months,” he was quoted as saying, days after Spain had to pay a record of more than 7% interest on its bonds. “We must make it clear with all the means at our disposal that we are firmly decided in protecting the financial stability of the currency union,” he said in a message to the panel of 17 finance ministers. Juncker confirmed that the eurozone countries along with the European Central Bank and the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone’s bailout fund, were prepared in an emergency to buy bonds of crisis-stricken euro countries. “We must still decide what we will do and when,” he said, adding that the speed with which they must react would depend on the developments of the next few days. “All the babble about the exit of Greece from the eurozone is not helpful,” he said.