$260b stimulus package proposed for EU

BRUSSELS: The European Commission (EC) yesterday called for a European Union-wide fiscal stimulus package of 200 billion euros ($259 billion) to stave off looming recession in the 27-nation bloc.

The proposal comes just a day after the US unveiled two new plans that will provide $800 billion to try to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt from home mortgages to credit cards.

The EC proposal is an attempt to bridge policy differences among European Union (EU) countries on how to react to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. But some are worried that a dash for growth will inflate national deficits at precisely the wrong time.