Germany backs a call to boost the size of a European Union relief fund for nations facing balance of payments difficulties, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin Friday, according to dpa. A proposal to increase the fund to 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) was originally made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The fund exists to lend money to EU members that run short of foreign exchange. Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said the chancellor would back Sarkozy on the issue at an EU summit on November 7 in Brussels. The European Commission has recommended an even bigger increase, suggesting the 12 EU nations outside the euro-zone should be able to call on a line of credit of 25 billion euros, up from 12 billion euros currently. Hungary this week received a joint 20-billion-euro credit from the International Monetary Fund, EU and the World Bank to avert bankruptcy.
