New Eurozone rescue fund launched
The eurozone's new permanent fund to bail out struggling economies and banks has been formally launched at a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will have a full lending capacity of 500bn euros (£400bn; $650bn) by 2014.
Europe's largest economy, Germany, will make the biggest contribution to the fund, about 27% of its total.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg and chair of the Eurogroup said the launch was an important moment for the Eurozone.
08 Oct 2012
- From the section Europe