MADRID — Fear, that contagious emotion, spread from country to country in Europe on Thursday as panicky investors worried that the euro currency union could be heading toward an ugly breakup.
Spain and even France, one of the continent’s core economic engines, were forced to pay sharply higher interest rates to raise cash to fund government spending.
While the European Central Bank was suspected of intervening in bond markets to fight the rise in the borrowing rates, many analysts say it needs to act more aggressively to contain the crisis. But Germany, Europe’s paymaster, once again blocked any such move on concerns it would let profligate governments off the hook.
Uncertainty is now even eroding the appeal of top AAA-rated government bonds from countries such as France as investors prepare for worst-case scenarios such as the deconstruction of the eurozone.
“Basically, if you look at any country that is not Germany, the contagion effect is major,” said Oscar Moreno of Madrid brokerage house Renta4.
In Spain, an auction of 10-year government bonds left the country paying interest rates of nearly 7 percent. That’s the highest rate since 1997 and a level that economists see as unsustainable. Greece and Ireland received rescue loans from the European Union after their bond yields jumped above the same level.
Across the border, France had to pay 1.85 percent to sell two-year bonds, up from 1.31 percent at the last auction in October.
