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'Fragile' Economic Recovery, Rising Debt Worries Europe

   VOA News 25 February 2010
   European  Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn speaks during a media
   conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, 25 Feb. 2010

Photo: AP

   European  Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn speaks during a media
   conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, 25 Feb. 2010

   There  are  growing  concerns  that  rising debt levels could threaten
   Europe's economic recovery.

   European Union's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Ollie Rehn
   said  Thursday  that  while  the  EU  economy  is still likely to grow
   slightly this year, its recovery is "fragile."
   Rehn  and  other  European  economic officials say they are especially
   concerned about Greece.
   Greece's total debt amounts to more than the country's yearly economic
   output,  prompting  two  of  the world's major credit rating agencies,
   Standard  &  Poor's  and  Moody's,  to  warn  they  may  downgrade the
   country's  rating.   If they do, Greece could have more difficult time
   raising money to pay back its debt.
   The  head  of Germany's Federal Finance Agency, Carl Heinz Daube, said
   in  a London conference Thursday that Greece's failure to pay back its
   debt  could  have  huge consequences for countries using the euro.  He
   said that perhaps it could lead to "a collapse of the whole system."
   
   Some  information  for  this report was provided by AFP, Bloomberg and
   Reuters.

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