Greece: Merkel Emerging as Victor, Euro Bailout To Open to I.M.F.

German magazine Spiegel reports today that Angela Merkel is emerging as the vivctor in the batle of who will provide aid to Greece. She had been the standalone potions against the demands from the rest of the European Union to promise financial aid to Greece.

Things have changed and France's Sarkozy seems to have shifted to her camp. France is now open to the IMF aid.

"France and most other EU countries had long rejected the idea of IMF intervention. But now that Merkel apparently has the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on Wednesday, the rest will likely be easier to convince. Should help for Greece become necessary, some EU countries could contribute bilateral loans in addition to a financial injection from the IMF. In government circles in Berlin, there was cautious optimism about "initial signals from various capitals" that officials there could imagine financial assistance coming from the IMF."

Greece must still refinance €50B in debt this year. With its poor credit rating borrowing money has become very expensive for the country.

Euro zone debt coming up:

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