French bid to leverage euro rescue fund ruled out

A French bid to turbo-charge the eurozone rescue fund by turning it into a bank that could draw money from the European Central Bank is dead, Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager said Saturday. The plan, long championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy and the cause of tension with German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of face-to-face talks between the pair in Brussels late Saturday, "is no longer an option," De Jager said.
The minister said two options remain for "leveraging" the 440 billion euro ($610 billion) European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) into a trillion euro-plus financial firewall that could protect Italy, the big worry after problems with a new Greek rescue are resolved.