Bond yields of fragile eurozone members hit records

(PARIS) - Bond yields of the most financially fragile eurozone members hit fresh records on Friday as eurozone leaders began talks on stepping up policy coordination to tame a debt crisis that threatens to claim new victims.

The yield on 10-year bonds from Portugal, which is widely seen as likely to be the next eurozone member to need a bailout, rose to 7.479 percent at 1700 GMT from 7.404 percent late on Thursday.

Portugal had also announced Friday it will adopt more austerity measures to ensure its public deficit meets EU norms by 2012.

Greece, which as the first to receive an international bailout least year when it could no longer borrow on the markets at normal rates, saw the yields on its 10-year bonds rise to 12.660 percent from 12.619 on Thursday.

Economists widely consider interest rates above six percent to be unsustainable in the long term, especially for countries managing only slow growth.

Ireland, which was also forced to turn last year to the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a bailout, saw the yields on its 10-year debt rise to 9.494 percent from 9.352 percent on Thursday.

Meanwhile the yield on eurozone benchmark German 10-year bonds fell to 3.212 percent from 3.248 percent on Thursday.