HELSINKI: Europe needs to swiftly beef up funding backstops to prevent its debt crisis leading to a flurry of ratings downgrades and a credit freeze, European Central Bank governing council member Erkki Liikanen said in an interview on Saturday.
Liikanen told public broadcaster YLE that urgent action was needed regarding Italy and Spain both hovering at the sharp end of the crisis, on boosting the International Monetary Fund's lending capacity and on the region's future permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM),
Rating agency Fitch late on Friday put six euro zone economies including Italy and Spain on watch for potential downgrades in the near future.
It also said it believes a comprehensive solution to the debt crisis is beyond reach.
Liikanen, who is also Bank of Finland governor, said each member country needed a plan to whip public finances in shape.
"The worst that can happen is that decisions are postponed and credit ratings will fall, interest rates on loans will increase and money is not available for countries or firms," he said.
The Bank of Finland published an economic forecast on Thursday predicting global trade will return to growth in late 2012.
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