Eurozone finance ministers to discuss debt crisis

Eurozone finance ministers will hold talks on the debt crisis today aimed at fleshing out plans made at a Brussels summit this month to save the single currency.

Ministers are expected to hold the telephone conference at 3pm this afternoon, to discuss next steps following the crunch EU summit 10 days ago.

European Union members who are not part of the Euro will also take part in today's discussions.

With several eurozone nations under threat of credit rating downgrades, a key focus of the tele-conference will be boosting International Monetary Fund (IMF) coffers.

At the summit in Brussels, which saw Britain block plans for European Union treaty change to save the currency, member countries announced plans to pump €200bn into an IMF war chest.

Several countries have agreed to the move in principle, without saying how much they would be willing to contribute.

All EU states except Britain also agreed last week to draft a strict pact with penalties to ensure they cut budget deficits and reduce their debt, aiming to get it drafted and signed by March.

The pact will also be on today's agenda, as will the European Stability Mechanism.