George Osborne pledge means UK bill for euro rescue could rise

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British taxpayers may have to find more cash to prop up the ailing euro after George Osborne backed a move to increase the size of the global bailout fund to rescue indebted European countries.

The chancellor, speaking at the G20 summit in Paris, said he was willing to consider a plan to increase the International Monetary Fund's firepower, provided a rescue deal had been agreed that would bring the two-year sovereign debt crisis to an end. Pumping more money into the Washington-based lender was "no substitute", he said, for European leaders hammering out the package of financial measures required to restore stability in the eurozone.

Osborne's qualified support for the creation of a larger global safety net could see the UK commit further loans to the IMF, though officials said a comprehensive rescue deal would make extra demands unlikely. His remarks were designed to support moves by G20 finance ministers to arrive at a definitive solution to the crisis while appeasing rightwing Tory MPs who have voiced concerns about extending further loans to the eurozone.

His comments came as European leaders continued to wrangle over the size and shape of the fund required to bail out Greece and prevent Italy and Spain from collapse. The make-or-break moment could come at a summit of EU leaders next Sunday (23 October) when Germany and France have promised to set out a plan that would stop the debt crisis spreading to other countries, protect Europe's embattled banks and prevent the global economy from tipping back into recession.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/15/george-osborne-uk-taxpayers-euro