The euro zone should have a limited joint fiscal capability to support individual member states in case of a sudden crisis, the head of the European Stability Mechanism was quoted as saying ahead of a French-German summit on Thursday.
Asked if Chancellor Angela Merkel should back French President Emmanuel Macron`s call to give the euro zone a single finance minister and a common budget, Klaus Regling told German business daily Handelsblatt that he did not want to lecture Merkel.
"But I think that we need a limited fiscal capacity in the euro zone in order to support single member states in case of sudden crisis," said Regling, a German official.
Such a "rainy day fund" should have the volume of an equivalent of one to two percent of the euro zone`s gross domestic product (GDP), Regling added. This would mean roughly 100 to 200 billion euros ($115 billion to $229 billion).($1 = 0.8732 euros)
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12:25 PM IST