Merkel, Sarkozy want quick bailout for Ireland

The 16-nation euro currency will survive the debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Thursday, and a senior central banker said the European Union would be willing to increase its �750 billion ($1 trillion) bailout fund if necessary.

Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy also called for a swift conclusion of the negotiations for an Irish bailout.

Axel Weber, the head of Germany's central bank and a leading rate-setter at the European Central Bank, said Thursday that European nations would be willing to boost the emergency fund by as much as �100 billion ($133 billion) to fully cover the total public debt load of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

But when Merkel and Sarkozy discussed the eurozone's troubles on the phone Thursday evening they said the �750 billion emergency fund for the euro would remain unchanged until it expires in 2013, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

The leaders of Germany and France, the eurozone's twin economic engines, said their governments are working "under high pressure on a joint proposal for a crisis mechanism that is to replace the current one beyond 2013," the statement said.

Merkel and Sarkozy were impressed by the austerity budget presented by the Irish government, adding they agreed that the negotiations involving the Irish government, the EU and the International Monetary Fund "should swiftly be brought to a conclusion," Seibert said.

Amid the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, the 16-nation currency wallowed near two-month lows against the dollar Thursday, trading at $1.3364 - down from a recent high of $1.4244 on Nov. 4. Some analysts predicted it would drop further as other heavily indebted countries, like Portugal and Spain, risk following Greece and Ireland in needing massive bailouts.

But Merkel said the euro currency will survive the debt crisis.