ECB lending to IMF idea ‘discussed’

EUROZONE and International Monetary Fund officials have discussed the idea of the European Central Bank lending to the IMF, to provide the fund with sufficient resources for bailing out even the biggest eurozone sovereigns, officials said.

“Some discussions on this have taken place... It could be one way of getting around the legal restrictions on the ECB,” one official with knowledge of the talks said. A second official said ECB lending to the IMF was being explored.

The idea appears as the rising severity of the eurozone debt crisis, which now threatens to engulf Italy, or even France, makes policymakers desperate to get the ECB, with its limitless resources as a central bank, more involved in the rescue efforts to buy governments time for reforms.