MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“A boss at rating agency Fitch has told Sky News the eurozone crisis is ‘getting worse’ and could last for months.

David Riley, head of global sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, said the situation in Europe had become ‘systemic’.

‘The eurozone crisis keeps on getting worse,’ he said on Jeff Randall Live.

‘It’s now become a systemic crisis – not just in terms of spreading the contagion to Italy, which is deeply worrying – but it’s now become a systemic banking crisis.’

His comments follow Fitch’s downgrade of both Spanish and Italian government debt on Friday.

But Mr Riley stressed there was ‘broad recognition’ of what needs to be done to help the region.

He said the solution includes dealing with Greece’s debt, putting more money into banks and supporting weaker countries like Spain and Italy, which he described as ‘solvent but potentially illiquid’.

But when pressed by Randall on whether Germany would bankroll these measures, he admitted this was a problem.” Read more.

Slovakia votes down eurozone bailout expansion plans – “Slovakia’s parliament has voted against measures to bolster the powers of the eurozone bailout fund, seen as vital in combating the bloc’s debt crisis. The governing coalition had linked the vote to a confidence motion and as a result has effectively been toppled. Slovakia is the last of the eurozone’s 17 members to vote on expanding the European Financial Stability Facility.” Read more.