Europe serious on protecting euro – EU bailout chief

European Union bailout chief Klaus Regling said yesterday the group was “serious” about protecting the euro and the latest debt crisis was moving member states closer together.

Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility, said in a speech in Singapore that perceptions about Europe in chaos and the euro about to disappear were wrong.

Regling acknowledged there was “continued uncertainty and tension in sovereign debt markets” in the continent.

However, he said “Europe has taken action over recent months to tackle sovereign debt issues in the eurozone and it has shown that it is serious about the protection of the euro.”

Regling’s speech came after the European Union and International Monetary Fund on Sunday agreed to an €85 billion bailout deal for debt-laden Ireland.

He said Ireland will have to “undergo very tough adjustments” to reduce its fiscal deficit and restructure its banking system.

Despite the deal, however, the euro has been taking a beating in the financial markets due to worries that the eurozone’s debt crisis may hit Spain and Portugal next.