Following last week’s European summit, Japan’s finance minister Jun Azumi stated that EU leaders will need to do more to resolve the crisis before turning to the International Monetary Fund. He implied that Tokyo is not satisfied with the deal that was settled last week.
“It would be difficult to draw any detailed picture on the next step involving the IMF until EU nations make it clearer how much they will put up to deal with this crisis,” Azumi said yesterday. “The EU should make more efforts and show them to the markets.”
Though Japan has kept rather quiet throughout the crisis, it is a significant benefactor to the EU’s bailout efforts. If European leaders look towards overseas sources of funds to fix their crisis, Japan may end up with an even greater role. Today, Japan is the second-greatest stakeholder in the IMF, and has also invested heavily in the European Financial Stability Facility.
Azumi has shifted away from Japan’s previous place in the equation by saying the country will only continue to lend assistance “when Europeans themselves show a clear and reliable plan” for resolving the debt crisis, as well as reveal how much money they themselves will put in to the effort.
