EU moves to bolster IMF, Eastern Europe

BRUSSELS, March 21 (UPI) -- The European Union says it will contribute an additional $102 billion to back the International Monetary Fund and extend more credit to Eastern Europe.

European leaders meeting in Brussels Friday agreed to loan the IMF $102 billion and also agreed to a smaller $6.8 billion package of spending measures despite opposition from Germany, which insisted on adding conditions to make the costs lower, The International Herald Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, the EU also moved to double the $34 billion ceiling on an emergency fund set up to help Eastern European countries outside the eurozone whose currencies are in crisis, such as Latvia and Hungary, which have already accessed the fund, the newspaper said.

"The decisions that we have made today, and the extra money that is being released, will help ensure that we do everything in our power to return the global economy to growth at the quickest possible opportunity," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters the move was meant "to show our partners in Central and Eastern Europe that the EU as a whole is ready for solidarity whenever solidarity would be needed."