Britain's finance minister George Osborne warned on Saturday that time was running out for eurozone countries to sort out Europe's debt crisis. "I think everyone here understands the severity of the situation, that's been the theme of all the discussions we've had yesterday and I'm sure it will be the theme today," Osborne told Sky News from Poland where European finance ministers are meeting.
"People know that time is running out, that the eurozone needs to show it can get a grip on the situation." Europe has been struggling for months to overcome a potentially crippling debt crisis in the common currency bloc, and on Friday US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged EU policymakers to leverage their bailout fund to better tackle the problem.
"I have to say it's not just an issue for the eurozone," Osborne said. "I think Tim Geithner himself when he was here yesterday was very clear America needs to show it can deal with its debts and the world, through the G20, through the IMF, needs to show it can deal with the big imbalances in the world."