Europe urged to beef up response to crisis

EUROPEAN policymakers criticised for failing to stem the eurozone debt crisis, face the tough task of stopping fallout from Greece’s near-bankruptcy from spreading into the world economy.

After being told by the US, China and other countries that they must try harder, European officials said they would work on ways to beef up their existing €440 billion rescue fund.

Deep differences remained over whether the European Central Bank (ECB) should commit more of its massive resources to the rescue fund to shore up Europe’s banks and help struggling eurozone countries.