5 Nov 2011

G20 leaders pledge to defend Europe

7:22 am on 5 November 2011

The G20 summit has closed with pledges to defend Europe and the euro.

The continuing eurozone debt crisis dominated the summit in Cannes, France.

In their final communique on Friday, G20 members adopted stronger language on currencies than they have at previous summits, agreeing to accelerate a move towards market-driven exchange rates.

They also said they stood ready to provide additional crisis-fighting resources to the International Monetary Fund.

But the BBC's economics editor noted there is a lack of detail and numbers in the final communique.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany confirmed that no countries outside the eurozone had offered to contribute to the EU bailout fund.

The European Financial Stability Facility is to be boosted from 440 billion euros earlier this year to 1 trillion euros.

The BBC reports there is about 250 billion euros left available in the fund.