by Calculated Risk on 5/22/2012 08:48:00 AM

From the Financial Times: OECD joins call for eurozone bonds

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has joined French and EU officials in calling for a move towards jointly-guaranteed euro bonds ...

Speaking to the Financial Times, Pier Carlo Padoan, the OECD deputy secretary general and chief economist, said fiscal consolidation alone without other elements of a “growth compact” could ruin chances of a longer-term economic union.

“We need to get on the path towards the issuance of euro bonds sooner rather than later,” he said.
excerpts with permission

Earlier from the Financial Times: France to push for eurozone bonds

France is determined to push the idea of jointly guaranteed bonds as a new form of borrowing for eurozone countries despite Germany’s opposition, Pierre Moscovici, finance minister, said in Berlin on Monday.

Speaking after a first intensive meeting with Wolfgang Schäuble, his German counterpart, Mr Moscovici confirmed that François Hollande, the newly elected French president, would include the concept as part of a package of growth measures to be debated by European leaders at an informal summit on Wednesday.

Update: From the WSJ: IMF Chief, OECD Call For More Euro Debt Sharing

International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde Tuesday called on euro-zone governments to accept more common liability for each other's debts, saying that the region urgently needs to take further steps to contain the crisis.

"We consider that more needs to be done, particularly by way of fiscal liability-sharing, and there are multiple ways to do that," Ms. Lagarde told a press conference in London to mark the completion of a regular review of U.K. finances.