Euro area debt sharing would be "economically wrong and counterproductive"
- Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected common euro-area bonds before a summit of European leaders this week. Merkel said debt sharing would be "economically wrong and counterproductive".
"It's not a bold prediction to say that in Brussels most eyes -- all eyes -- will be on Germany yet again," Merkel said.
"I say quite openly: when I think of the summit on Thursday I'm concerned that once again the discussion will be far too much about all kinds of ideas for joint liability and far too little about improved oversight and structural measures."
"Merkel is following a very careful strategy," Eric Wand, a fixed-income strategist at Lloyds Banking Group Plc in London, said. First was the fiscal pact and then comes "extending Brussels control" over national budgets, he said.
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