European Leaders Seek IMF Help

While the European debt crisis threatens to spread throughout the continent, European Union leaders may ask the IMF to help them avert a further economic crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold talks with the IMF in Paris on Monday, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner—at the behest of President Obama—will meet with European leaders later in the week. Though the fund has already loaned help to Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, it lacks the lending resources necessary to help larger nations like Italy—the fund has the ability to lend only about $400 billion worldwide. But European leaders should not hold their breath: one expert said that since Europe is “rich enough” and not in “net deficit,” the IMF is not likely to provide the funds.