Slovakia vote on eurozone bailout following Malta’s approval

Slovakia is now the last of the 17 member states to vote. All other members have approved the measures.

But doubts remain about the outcome of the vote, with coalition partners unable to agree a compromise deal.

Without a deal, the government will have to rely on opposition support.

"I have to say that the coalition partners have failed to reach an agreement," said Slovakian Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.

She said talks would resume before the vote in Parliament later in the day.

To expand the powers of the bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Facility - all member states must agree on the measures proposed in July.

These include expanding the size of the fund to a lending capacity of €440bn.

They also include giving it the power to buy eurozone government debt and offer credit lines to member states and to banks.

However, these plans are now seen as inadequate, with markets suggesting the fund needs to be nearer €2tn to be effective.

Other plans agreed in July, to make private investors take a hit on any default by Greece on its debts, are also now seen as insufficient. Reports suggest leaders are contemplating a 50% cut rather than the 21% cut originally proposed.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged on Sunday to do what it takes to protect European banks from the debt crisis.

The leaders said they were close to a detailed package to ease the crisis and would give further details within weeks.

The pledge helped boost stock markets on Monday, with Wall Street's Dow Jones index rising 3%, albeit on low volumes.

The markets are now expecting more comprehensive measures designed to tackle the crisis once and for all to be announced at a G20 meeting in Cannes at the beginning of November.