Eurozone gets new bailout fund

A new permanent bailout fund for the eurozone will come in to force later Monday at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is designed to support faltering economies and banks in countries that use the euro currency.

It will eventually replace the old system, the European Financial Stability Facility, which has already lent about €200 billion, or more than $250 billion, to Greece, Ireland and Portugal over the past two years.

Eurozone countries will make the first capital payments into the fund this week to ease a deepening debt crisis . The euro fell to a four-month low against the U.S. dollar Friday after Germany's finance minister said the market turmoil over Europe's debt crisis could drag on for up to two more years.

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