Europe faces "true" financial crisis

Europe is facing a "true" financial crisis, not just a monetary one, with broad-based disruption in the markets, French central bank governor Christian Noyer said Wednesday. Noyer said most observers trace the turmoil to "fiscal imbalances in peripheral economies" but that these may have been only the trigger. "We are now looking at a true financial crisis -- that is broad-based disruption in financial markets," the Bank of France governor told a financial forum in Singapore. "We are facing a financial crisis, not a monetary one." Noyer said that the situation in Europe and the world "has significantly worsened over the past few weeks." "Market stress has intensified. Bond markets in the euro area are not functioning normally," he said. "Economies outside the euro area are feeling the effects of increased uncertainty, lower growth prospects and capital repatriation."