Hungary Seeks $230 Billion Package for Eastern Europe

Hungary Seeks $230 Billion Package for Eastern Europe

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany wants the European Union to arrange a package of as much as 180 billion euros ($230 billion) to help east European economies, banks and companies weather the financial crisis.
A “European Stabilization and Integration Program” would include short-term financing for governments, coordinated restructuring for private debt, the recapitalization of banks and liquidity for companies in as many as 12 countries, Gyurcsany, 47, said in an interview in Budapest yesterday. He will present the plan at a March 1 EU summit in Brussels.
Some Eastern European economies are in meltdown as the global crisis throttles demand for their exports while investment and credit evaporate. Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, Serbia and Belarus have sought international bailouts. Regional currencies, stocks and bonds plunged as investors fled riskier assets.
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Analysis of East Europe bailout
(01:05) Rough Cut Reuters Video

Feb 27 - Analyst Nigel Rendell of RBC Capital Markets in London says more euros will be needed.

Global development banks have launched a 25 billion euro rescue package to prop up banks and businesses in central and Eastern Europe.
In a communique obtained by Reuters, the coordinated plan calls for the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank to provide quick large scale funding to strengthen banks and give insurance firms access to credit.
Details on the banks and countries involved were not immediately available.
The massive expansion of international banks into the former Communist countries of central and Eastern Europe has made the region vulnerable to the credit strains that arose in the U.S.

NOTE: Natural sound; no reporter narration.
SOUNDBITE:
# Analyst Nigel Rendell of RBC Capital Markets in London