EU ministers to double lending power of bail-out fund

Eurozone finance ministers have backed a doubling of the full lending capacity of a future EU bail-out fund.

As of 2013, the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent rescue mechanism to replace the bloc's current bail-out arrangement, will have an effective lending capacity of €500 billion, Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the chief of the group of EU member states that use the single currency, said late on Monday (14 February) night.

Speaking to reporters, he sa...