“For us there are differences in responsibilities and in the repercussions,” said German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm at a press conference in Berlin.
The German Finance Ministry on Monday said Washington had not yet made an official request for Germany to take part in the massive bailout package, but Wilhelm said “measures such as those taken in the USA are not necessary for Germany.”
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson over the weekend mooted the possibility of foreign countries joining American rescue efforts to quell the trouble financial markets.
Merkel on Monday renewed her call for the world’s leading industrial nations to push for greater regulation of the global financial system. “The crisis on the international financial markets shows us that you can do a lot at the national level, but most has to be organized internationally,” she said while attending a business conference in Berlin.