But the deal on funds for the International Monetary Fund fell short of targets, with Britain again shunning its neighbours.
And the Fitch ratings agency warned that the EU's EFSF bailout fund
could lose its triple A rating if its main sponsors Germany and France
were downgraded.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde, speaking in Lagos, warned that because
of a crisis of confidence and slowing growth, "currently the world
economy stands at a very dangerous juncture."
In London, top business leaders including the heads of Shell Virgin
Group, Nomura and Rio Tinto insisted in a letter to the Daily Telegraph
newspaper: "It is in Britain's interest that the euro survives, and we
therefore should do everything we can to ensure the necessary steps are
taken to guarantee its viability."
In Paris, French Budget Minister and government spokeswoman Valerie
Pecresse said: "I have no doubt that Britain, once a certain number of
G20 countries agree to fund the IMF, will come to the IMF's aid."
Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the 17 countries that share
the single currency had pledged 150 billion euros ($195 billion) in
bilateral loans for the IMF late Monday.
The European Union hopes the money can help stabilise the debt crisis in the eurozone.
But European Union leaders appealed at a December 9 summit for 200
billion euros, and Britain refused to stump up its share of roughly 30
billion euros.
After mixed messages also from European Central Bank chief Mario
Draghi in a high-profile press interview and before a key European
Parliament committee, Wall Street ended the day down 0.84 percent in
thin trading, with Europe's main markets also down at Tuesday's opening.
"We will not contribute to anything that is only available to eurozone countries," a British government official in London told AFP.
"Nor will we participate in an increase in IMF resources that only
comes from EU countries without the participation of other G20
countries" outside the EU, he added.
The IMF currently has less than 300 billion euros available for lending to countries that enter reform programmes.
Germany will provide 41.5 billion euros, France 31.4 billion, Italy
23.48 billion, Spain 14.86 billion, The Netherlands 13.86 billion and
Belgium 9.99 billion.
Juncker said Britain would "define its contribution early in the new year in the framework of the G20."
But a senior EU official said finance minister George Osborne's
refusal to budge caused "bitterness" among counterparts, on tenterhooks
after being put on a downgrade watch by international credit rating
agencies.
One of the biggest, Fitch, has already warned that a meaningful solution to the debt crisis may prove "beyond reach" of the EU.
The head of the German central bank said last week that its payout
will be conditional on the United States and other major Group of 20
contributors taking a "fair" share of the burden.
"If large members, for example the US, were to say 'we're not taking
part,' then from our point of view it is problematic," he said.
Russia last week suggested that it could contribute up to $20 billion
in loans and investments via the IMF. But China, India and Brazil have
yet to go that far.
Like other major economies, the United States needs the eurozone to
be a healthy trading partner if worldwide recession in 2012 is to be
avoided.
The latest sign that London is out of synch with broader EU goals
came 10 days after Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed an EU treaty
change and opted out of a pact to create a new "fiscal union."
The first talks on designing a new legal framework for that new
"union" within the EU will start at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) on Tuesday in
Brussels.
by TTO News