Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne called on European finance chiefs to come up with concrete plans to solve the crisis in the euro area, saying the U.K. and world economies aren’t immune to recent market turmoil. Osborne broke his silence on the crisis engulfing Greece and other euro countries in a statement released last night by the Treasury in which he demanded “detail” on plans to end the problems. He met European Union counterparts in Brussels earlier yesterday. “The time has come for decisive action to address the crisis in the eurozone and prevent market uncertainty doing real damage to the world economy,” Osborne said. “We are not immune to the instability on our doorstep.” While Britain’s bonds have retained the confidence of investors, in part due to Osborne’s plan to eliminate the deficit within five years, the economy has struggled to grow in recent quarters. Britons are seeing their spending power erased at the fastest pace since the 1970s as wage growth fails to keep up with prices. Yesterday, European finance ministers looked for ways to cut Greece’s debt burden as a surge in bond yields in Italy and Spain brought the crisis closer to the heart of the euro area. The euro fell to a four-month low. Milan’s stock index dropped to its lowest in two years. Following nine hours of talks on July 11, the 17 euro governments pledged to flesh out a new plan “shortly” to end the 21-month-old crisis, without setting a timeline. Osborne chastised his peers and called for plans “in detail” and for them to spell out which “financial tools” they will use to stem the rot. He called for “credible stress tests backed up with recapitalization for the most vulnerable banks,” the involvement of the private sector to make Greece’s debt burden “more sustainable,” and for the euro area to “earn fiscal credibility.” To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in London at gvina@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

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