ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
Europe's debt crisis dominated discussions between world financial leaders at the plenary session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy making arm of the International Monetary Fund, on Saturday (September 24).
U.S. Treasury chief Timothy Geithner, in his most explicit warning to date about the crisis, said it was time for the European Central Bank to step up and take a central role to get it under control.
World financial markets have been wracked by fears the Greek debt crisis could overwhelm other euro zone countries and their banks, but took some comfort on Friday from signs of new resolve by European officials to bolster defenses after nearly two years of what many see as half-hearted action that has policy-makers talking openly of possible Greek default.
The semi-annual gathering of the IMF and World Bank is marked by worries about the risk that Europe now poses to the rest of the world. Financial markets are highly anxious about potential defaults by countries like Greece and other heavily indebted European nations and the possibility that Europe's banking system could be at risk given the size of their holdings of debt issued by weak euro zone countries.