Eurozone | featured news

President Obama and leaders of the world’s other leading economies Saturday embraced a policy of growth over austerity in Europe as they met on the cloistered grounds of Camp David to talk about fending off a spread of the Eurozone crisis.

Political leaders in Greece need to show the resolve to stay in the euro zone, which will require Athens to stick to the terms of its rescue package, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

The head of Greece’s top administrative court, Panayiotis Pikrammenos, was named the nation's caretaker prime minister Wednesday as voters prepare for another election on June 17 that is widely viewed as a referendum on whether Greece stays in or leaves the Eurozone.

Stocks fell and the spread between Spanish and German bonds hit a record wide, as the prospect of fresh elections heightened concerns about the likelihood of Greece exiting the euro zone.

Spain's latest credit rating downgrade has thrown into sharp relief the need to revive a banking sector that could need another 100 billion euros to cover bad debts in order to avoid exposing another weak flank in the euro zone crisis.

Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year.

China is keen to contribute to a fund to bail out the euro zone, its trade minister said, underscoring the Asian powerhouse's growing interest in playing a bigger role in the global economy as its financial strength grows.

The global economy has stepped back from the brink of danger and signs of stabilization are emerging from the euro zone and the United States, but high debt levels in developed markets and rising oil prices are key risks ahead, the IMF said on Sunday.

The euro zone may raise the combined lending power of its bailout funds to close to 700 billion euros from 500 billion in a trade-off between German opposition to committing more money and calming markets, euro zone officials said.

The euro zone is showing tentative signs of improvement, the latest monthly readout from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed on Monday.