Angela Merkel, German chancellor, declared yesterday that Europe was “in a race with the markets” to turn its monetary union into a fully fledged political union, even as she warned her partners not to overburden the German economy in the eurozone crisis.
Her intervention coincided with a new surge in borrowing costs for Spain, following a downgrade by Moody’s rating agency, while Italy moved to reassure the markets by promising more cuts in spending.
Germany’s 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to price, have edged up in recent days to 1.49 per cent, partially on expectations that Berlin will eventually be forced to impair its own creditworthiness to rescue the eurozone.