Debt crisis efforts fail to impress markets

EUROPEAN policymakers tried to turn a more powerful fire hose on the eurozone debt crisis yesterday but financial markets were unimpressed with their response.

The European Central Bank (ECB) resumed buying government bonds after a four-month break and announced new longer-term funding for liquidity-starved banks. But after a brief hiccup, Italian and Spanish bond yields resumed the climb towards danger levels.

The executive European Commission urged holidaying eurozone leaders to consider swiftly boosting the size of their financial rescue fund, but was promptly rebuffed by the Germans and Dutch.