Euro bailout funds unlikely to reach $1.3 trillion

Several European finance chiefs say the 17 countries that use they euro are unlikely to boost their financial backstop to the Euro 1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) demanded by many of their international partners, AP reported.
Several international institutions, as well as the U.S. and China, want the eurozone to significantly increase its defenses against a debt crisis that has been haunting the currency union for more than two years.
But Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers, said Friday "we are a slice away" from increasing the bloc's bailout funds to Euro 1 trillion.
Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen meanwhile said a proposal from the EU's executive that calls for a lending capacity of Euro 940 billion "is too high" for his country.