British finance minister George Osborne has urged eurozone countries to 'put its own house in order' in 2011 by initiating measures to restore confidence in the euro and sort out the bloc's tremulous banking system.
Writing in the Financial Times newspaper, Osborne said Europe has left a shadow hanging over recovery, by not being bold enough in its response to its currency and banking problems.
"On deficits, growth and banks, 2011 is the year Europe must put its own house in order," Osborne wrote.
"The sense of crisis may have eased, but wide spreads and high market interest rates still stalk several European economies," he said.
He urged a ‘comprehensive package early this year’ to restore confidence in the euro.
According to Osborne, the International Monetary Fund or other external bodies should be brought in to give credibility to new stress tests for European banks, after the credibility of last tests were strongly question by the markets.
Referring to the last round of tests, British finance minister said Europe cannot repeat the same mistake again.
He said that new stress tests which were scheduled for next month should be much tougher, covering liquidity as well as capital.
In his article, Osborne also said he is determined that Britain should remain a global financial centre, warning Brussels against hobbling it with "badly thought through regulation."