EU bailout fund falls short of €200bn target

Eurozone leaders have agreed to boost International Monetary Fund (IMF) resources by €150 billion in order to ward off the debt crisis - but Britain stuck to its pledge to bow out, threatening the rescue fund's €200 billion target.

Following a three-hour conference call, European Union (EU) finance ministers said that four countried outside the single currency bloc - the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden - had also vowed to grant IMF loans to help save the 17-nation zone.

But these lenders must first win parliamentary approval, and after Britain made clear it would not participate in the plan it looks as though the IMF's firepower will be €50 billion short, leaving the eurozone far more reliant on the support of China and Russia, which has shown willingness to boost the IMF's funds.

Ministers had set an informal deadline of Monday evening to arrive at the €200 billion figure, which was agreed by EU leaders at a summit earlier this month.

At the time Britain said it was committed to Europe and the IMF, but would only help build the IMF's resources in order to further its global role.

In a joint press conference, European finance ministers urged orther countries to come forward to support the IMF in its bailout role.  'Euro area member states will provide €150 billion of additional resources through bilateral loans to the fund's general resources account,' the ministers said.

'The EU would welcome G20 members and other financially strong IMF members to support the efforts to safeguard global financial stability by contributing to the increase in IMF resources.'