EUROZONE finance ministers agreed last night to give Greece the next tranche of its EU/IMF loan of €8 billion, ensuring it will not default in the next few weeks, but the battle between France and Germany on extending the firepower of the EU’s rescue fund continued to rage.

CAREFUL calibration of a US dollar devaluation looks to be the only way to avert the sort of currency war flagged by Brazil and others, leaving G20 powers the unenviable task of agreeing some control of the process.

Drastic action to fight Greece’s debt crisis is beginning to take hold, the country’s prime minister said.