EUROZONE finance ministers resisted United States pressure to provide a decisive solution to the debt crisis yesterday, saying they would delay until October a decision on paying out more bailout loans to Greece to prevent a disastrous government default.

The delay was yet another example of Europe's halting effort over almost two years to solve its difficulties over too much government debt in some countries. Markets have been extremely volatile in recent weeks on concerns about the crisis, but barely moved on news from the meeting as expectations were already low.

Despite the lack of big announcements, the mood among officials at the meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, was at times edgy, with Austria's finance minister criticizing US Treasury chief Timothy Geithner for not listening to European ideas.

Maria Fekter said Geithner - the first US finance chief to join such a eurozone meeting - in "very dramatic terms" urged the Europeans to get a grip on the crisis, but she faulted him for not being responsive to suggestions. She said he ruled out a tax on financial transactions, which some euro countries see as a way of funding expensive bailouts.

Geithner had joined the meeting in a sign of how the US is increasingly concerned over the global impact of the eurozone debt crisis. But his presence seemed to yield little at the meeting, where European officials appeared unable to make much progress on any of several fronts.

The payout of the next 8 billion euros (US$11 billion) installment of Greece's first bailout package depends on a review of the country's finances. The disbursement was originally scheduled for the end of September, and the Greek government has said that without the new loan it will run out of money next month, forcing it to stop paying public-sector salaries and eventually default on its massive debts.

Source:shanghaidaily