Slovak parliament rejects expanding EFSF: reports

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
The Slovak parliament rejected a plan to expand a 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund, throwing a wrench at the euro zone's effort to contain the debt crisis and resulting in the collapse of the Slovak government, according to media reports Tuesday. The rejection is not unexpected as the ruling party had struggled to garner sufficient support for the plan. Nonetheless, the Slovak parliament is expected to approve the European Financial Stability Facility later this week as the opposition had indicated that it will support the bailout fund after the government is dissolved, according to reports.