IMF Chides Eurozone Ministers for Inaction

While Germany has been the most outspoken against proposed additional action, on Wednesday the Czech Republic announced that it would not take part in any additional rescue mechanism. It already has abstained from joining the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). According to a Reuters report, Czechs, wary of joining the eurozone, have been reluctant to set an entry date to adopt the currency. A member of the European Union (EU) but not of the eurozone, Czechs oppose a fiscal union that would more firmly tie together the countries in the group. It also opposes E-bonds, and speaking before its senate on Wednesday, Defense Minister Alexander Vondra said that the country should support stipulations in the EU treaty to ban them.

Midday trading in Europe saw shares and the dollar rising and gold falling; insurers’ increases offset miners’ and commodities’ losses, including copper, which has soared lately but is now off its highs. Expectations were strong, both on the expected Irish bailout and on a proposed tax deal in the U.S. Treasuries, on the other hand, saw prices fall sharply with the 10-year yield rising as worries about the expensive tax deal in the U.S. took the upper hand.