MADRID — Eurozone nations agreed Friday to tighten joint oversight of the economies in Europe’s currency union in an effort to stem a debt crisis that already has forced them to offer billions of euros to Greece if it can’t borrow from markets.
Greece gave no indication at a meeting Friday of finance ministers from the 16 nations that use the euro that it would soon seek to tap the financial lifeline agreed on last weekend.
Markets reacted badly, charging more for Greek bonds and widening the spread — the difference between Greek and benchmark German 10-year bonds — to 4.31 percent, close to an April 8 all-time high of 4.48 percent.
Greek stocks also were down after Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurozone finance ministers’ group, said Greece gave no indication that it was requesting a bailout.
The Greek government called in EU and International Monetary Fund officials for talks in Athens on Monday but insisted this was not a signal that it would formally request a bailout within days.
Last week, it secured a pledge for $40 billion in loans from other eurozone nations — with possibly another $20 billion from the IMF.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said eurozone ministers discussed whether that loan would be sufficient and whether they needed to make any changes to EU treaties — which could require parliament approvals and public votes in the EU’s 27 nations.
