Lagarde calls for larger bailout fund

BERLIN, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde urged the European Union to add significantly more firepower to its economic rescue fund.

In a speech in Berlin, Lagarde advocated for the EU to double available emergency funds, which she called a "firewall" to $1.3 trillion.

She also called for a "clear and credible timetable" for getting the fund going, The New York Times reported Monday.

A timetable "would help greatly," she said.

At a separate event, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a larger fund was not as important as getting the European Stability Mechanism up and running "as quickly as possible."

Finance ministers in Europe, meanwhile, were gathering to discuss the ESM and the next tranche -- or disbursement -- of emergency funds that Greece needs to meet financial obligations in March.

French finance minister Francois Baroin said Greece was close to securing a critical deal with bondholders.

Stock markets in Europe headed higher on hopes that a deal could be reached.

Arriving in Brussels, Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos also said a deal would be completed "on time."

"I expect that the negotiations with the private creditors and the new Greece program can be completed simultaneously and soon enough that no new bridge loan whatsoever will be needed," Merkel said in Berlin.