UK could be pulled into £290 billion Euro bailout
There is a stark warning for UK taxpayers this morning with a suggestion that problems within the euro zone could impact upon EU members to the tune of £290 billion. Aside from the immediate problems regarding Greece and the ever growing budget deficit, it is believed that the likes of Portugal, Ireland and Spain are nearing situations which will require bailout funding from their EU counterparts.
Aside from the fact that £290 billion is an enormous amount of money in its own right it comes at a time when the economies within Europe are struggling to pull away from the recession. Indeed over the last few weeks we have seen a fragile recovery in the UK economy and the German economy effectively stall with zero growth in the final quarter of 2009. While the likes of Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain wait in the wings there could be a flurry of other EU economies struggling to survive in the short to medium term.
Despite assurances that funding for the EU would not dictate local economic strategies in countries such as the UK, the situation has changed dramatically over the last few weeks. As one of the founder members of the EU the UK would be prominent in any fundraising activity and will be asked to pay more than its fair share.
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