BRUSSELS—Euro-zone finance ministers on Monday confirmed plans to contribute €150 billion ($195.6 billion) in additional bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund as part of a move to boost its resources for crisis response, but contributions from other European Union members remained unclear as the U.K. held its ground that any additional IMF funds should be part of a global agreement. In a statement following a conference call among EU finance ministers, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.K. indicated it will define its contribution early next year in the framework of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations. The IMF welcomed the announcement of new loans, saying it will help to ensure the stability of the global financial system. "We welcome the EU finance ministers' support for a substantial increase in the IMF's resources, as we work to strengthen our capacity to fulfill our systemic responsibilities to our global membership," an IMF spokesman said. The Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which aren't euro-zone members, indicated they may take part in the process of reinforcing IMF resources, though some EU member states may need approval from their parliaments first, the statement said. Euro Zone Crisis Tracker See economic, political and markets news from across Europe as governments and financial institutions deal with the continuing debt crisis. View Interactive 
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WSJ reporter Matina Stevis visits Mean Street to discuss a $260 billion to the IMF Euro nations are pursuing in order to protect the economies of Italy and Spain. Experience WSJ professional Editors' Deep Dive: Sovereign Debt Watch AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Debt-hit Greece Facing 'Crucial' Month Ahead The Wall Street Journal Online Euro Collapse Not a Solution Agence France Presse 'Good Chance' of Greece-Banks Debt Deal Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More EU finance ministers held the talks on Monday in a bid to finalize the multibillion-euro loan to the IMF and other steps to build a credible firewall around Italy and Spain, as part of an agreement reached among EU leaders earlier this month. The additional IMF loans are a linchpin in the EU's latest plan to stave off a collapse of the euro zone, agreed to by a majority of EU nations at the Brussels summit this month. The hastily called conference call shows the urgency with which European leaders have to act and the roadblocks standing in their way. Roughly €30 billion will be needed to come from the U.K. to bring total contributions, including those from other non-euro-zone EU members, to the target of €200 billion that was suggested by EU leaders at their summit on Dec. 9. Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which are under bailout programs, won't be among the countries to provide the IMF with bilateral loans. The EU finance ministers also failed to reach agreement on a plan to boost the total lending capacity of the euro zone's rescue funds beyond a €500 billion ceiling and didn't make any progress on a plan to make the permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, more flexible by introducing an 85% voting rule instead of unanimity. The U.K. Treasury has said the euro zone should do more to strengthen its own firewall and that it won't commit to any funds to the IMF that are available only for euro-zone countries. "The U.K. has a couple of formal problems," a euro-zone official said earlier. "They think that the firewall that's been constructed is not fireproof enough." On Monday, the U.K. government said it has always been willing to consider additional resources for the IMF, but only for the fund to carry out its usual global role and as part of a global agreement. Sweden's finance minister, Anders Borg, said his country could provide as much as 100 billion kronor ($14.4 billion) in loans to the IMF—the figure mentioned by Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves last week—but Sweden needed answers to some questions first. "We need clarity that other countries are prepared to contribute," Mr. Borg said at a briefing held during a break from the conference call. EU governments must also overcome the resistance of the Bundesbank, Germany's powerful central bank. The Bundesbank is still in talks with the German government over IMF loans, and sees no urgency in that regard, a representative for the Bundesbank said on Monday. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has signaled the central bank's willingness to contribute €45 billion in loans to the IMF, but only if other European and non-European countries such as the U.S. follow suit and the funds aren't specifically directed at Europe. Facing re-election next year, U.S. President Barack Obama has already poured cold water on the prospect of the IMF's largest contributor giving more taxpayer money to the institution, arguing that Europe is rich enough to solve its own problems. The finance ministers also failed to make a decision on the question of how the ESM voting rules would work. After the Dec. 9 summit, there had been a move to waive unanimity rules and to allow the ESM to make decisions on the basis of an 85% supermajority, affording it the ability to act faster and even if some euro-area countries disagreed. But Finland blocked the 85% rule on Monday, an EU official said. "The Finnish want the unanimity rule reinstituted, to apply if there's a question of raising fresh money [for the ESM], but no other delegation agrees with that. It's a political issue for them that reflects domestic difficulties and it doesn't look like there will be progress," the EU official said. Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Monday said the existence of the euro zone is "irreversible" and that speculation about its breakup is "morbid." "I have no doubt whatsoever about the strength of the euro, about its permanence and its irreversibility. The one currency is irreversible," Mr. Draghi said at his first hearing of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs since he took the helm of the ECB on Nov. 1. A breakup of the currency union would have extraordinary costs, he added. Mr. Draghi said the ECB welcomes the latest decisions by EU heads of state and governments for sound and transparent fiscal rules, as the "new fiscal compact is an essential signal, showing a clear trajectory for the future evolution of the euro area." —Charles Duxbury in Stockholm, Hans Bentzien and Margit Feher in Frankfurt, Tom Barkley in Washington and Nicholas Winning in London contributed to this article. Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@dowjones.com
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