S&P threat adds to pressure on EU leaders

THE pressure on EU leaders to come up with a solution to the euro crisis increased yesterday with Standard and Poor’s threatening to downgrade the eurozone’s rescue fund and all six triple-A countries.

The US treasury secretary Tim Geithner continues his whistle-stop tour of major eurozone capitals today ahead of tomorrow’s two-day summit, having met European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

As demand grows for some sort of debt pool to be created, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will propose giving the EU’s bailout fund a banking licence to allow it to access ECB funding so it can buy up sovereign debt.