AlQa'dah 27, 1433, Oct 13, 2012, SPA -- The head of the International Monetary Fund Saturday urged euro zone authorities to deploy the currency union's bailout funds and the European Central Bank's bond-buying program as part of an aggressive plan to tame its debt crisis. Although IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde didn't refer to any particular country when prodding the EU to wield its crisis-fighting weapons, Spain is the only country in the euro zone that is currently considering whether and when to tap the bailout funds. Also, the fund is pushing Europe to quickly appoint a pan-euro banking supervisor as a necessary step to allow for the currency union to directly recapitalize weak banks. The EU this week came under renewed pressure from the world's finance ministers and central bankers at the IMF's annual meetings to act more quickly to fix a financial crisis threatening to slam the brakes on the global growth. The ECB has said it is prepared to pull the trigger on the new program to buy bonds of ailing member countries, but only if they apply for a conditional bailout loan from the 500 billion euro ($647.67 billion) European Stability Fund, which came online earlier this week. Spain has taken advantage of the low borrowing rates purchased when the ECB announced its bond program in September by nearly completing this year's borrowing needs. Applying for a loan is politically controversial for Madrid as it would have to cede a measure of economic sovereignty to the EU. "The ESM and the OMT need to be deployed, banking union advanced, and national authorities should implement strong policies to credibly ensure fiscal consolidation over the medium term," Ms. Lagarde said in her report to the International Monetary and Financial Committee. "The tools are there, but in terms of using them, clearly it's up to them to decide when it's appropriate," Ms. Lagarde told reporters after the IMFC meeting.
