Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted on Saturday ruling out a higher German contribution to the eurozone's rescue fund beyond the 211 billion euros approved by parliament last week. In an interview with the Super-Illu newspaper published on Saturday, Schaeuble said Germany would not contribute more than that amount to the 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
"Germany will take on 211 billion euros in guarantees and that's it, that's really the end of it with the exception of the interest costs on top of it," said Schaeuble, who has faced criticism recently for revising upwards earlier pledges on ceilings for the guarantees. Germany's lower and upper houses of parliament approved strengthening the EFSF on Thursday and Friday.
Schaeuble said Germany would contribute a bit less to the future permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due to replace the EFSF in 2013. He said Germany's contribution to the ESM including interest costs would be 190 billion euros.
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