EU bailout fund chief says ‘no special deal’

Klaus Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility, said yesterday in Beijing that ‘there is no special deal’ with China

China and the head of Europe’s bailout fund dampened hopes yesterday that Beijing would come to the aid of the debt-stricken EU, but left the door open for a deal with the world’s second-biggest economy.
Expectations for a strong commitment from China had been high ahead of Klaus Regling’s visit to Beijing, with the Financial Times quoting a source saying a cash injection could top USD 100 billion.
But publicly the government has been noncommittal and Chinese state media has said that Europe must take responsibility for the crisis and not rely on “good Samaritans” to save the continent.
“There is no special deal” with China, said Regling, in Beijing for talks with China’s central bank and finance ministry a day after European leaders reached a last-ditch agreement to tackle the region’s worst crisis in decades.
There have been calls from Europe for China and other developing economies to invest in the bailout fund, and there has been intense speculation that Beijing will agree to deploy some of its huge foreign exchange reserves.
But bailing out developed European countries would be a hard sell for the Communist leaders of a country where soaring housing and food costs are hurting millions of poor households and many exporters are struggling to pay bills.
Hours after Thursday’s deal was struck, French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned China’s President Hu Jintao, later giving a television interview in which he defended the idea of asking China to bail out Europe.
“If the Chinese, who have 60 percent of global reserves, decide to invest in the euro instead of the dollar, why refuse?” said the French president.
Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), insisted the timing of his visit was not significant, calling the talks “regular consultations” on China’s investment in European bonds.
But he said the EFSF was looking at new ways to secure new investment, speaking after EU leaders announced measures including quadrupling the firepower of the fund to one trillion euros (USD 1.4 trillion).
Regling said he would discuss with China and other investors how to structure a special purpose investment vehicle and would explore the possibility of linking it to the International Monetary Fund.
China, which has 3.2 trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves, was “interested in finding attractive, solid, safe investment opportunities,” he told a media briefing.
However, China’s vice finance minister welcomed the EU agreement on measures to address the debt crisis but said the country was still considering whether to invest in the bailout fund.
“We need to wait for the technicalities to be clear and also to carry out serious studies before we can decide on investment,” Zhu Guangyao told reporters.
“We hope that all these technical and specialised arrangements can be thrashed out at an early date and can be implemented and feasible. That will be very important for the effectiveness” of the fund.
The fund was set up in May 2010 and is designed to provide financial assistance to European economies at risk of default, such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
China has already invested significant sums in European bonds and has repeatedly called on Europe to address its debt crisis, saying a failure to act risks dragging the world back into recession.
On Thursday, Beijing cautiously welcomed the European deal and reiterated China’s “faith in the EU and the eurozone economy”.
But a commentary in an influential Chinese newspaper yesterday said that although the deal eased market concerns - setting off a rally on global bourses - it did not address the root cause of the problem.
“The summit did not reach any decision on institutional reform and therefore did not eliminate concerns over the [causes of] the European debt crisis at the root,” said the column in the People’s Daily, seen as the mouthpiece of the Communist Party.              

AFP