Ten countries could need lifeline from IMF

The International Monetary Fund is in talks over providing aid programmes to at least 10 European governments, it emerged today.

Investors were shocked at the extent of the bailout programmes being discussed with countries including Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia, who have all been crippled by the financial crisis, according to sources quoted in the German Press.

The euro fell sharply today on the news, down 0.29 cents against the pound and 0.97 against the dollar amid concerns about the extent of the crisis in the countries surrounding the eurozone.

The Handelsblatt financial newspaper reported that Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Belarus and Latvia are also in dire need of assistance while Hungary has not yet decided. A request for aid from Bosnia has already been approved.

The countries concerned want to stabilise their national currencies as the shock waves of the ongoing crisis continue to batter them.

Crumbling markets for steel, rising budget deficits and continuing job losses eroding the tax base place the countries at risk of becoming failed states unless there is meaningful aid, Handelsblatt said.

IMF officials believe that aid packages alone will not cure all the ills of the affected nations but concur that "speedy" decision-making is vital to help them struggle through the downturn.

Zeljko Rohatinski, head of the Croatian central bank, says he believes it increasingly likely that his country will not get by without IMF injections.