US Ready to Back Bigger EU Stability Fund..

The United States would be ready to support the extension of the European Financial Stability Facility via an extra commitment of money from the International Monetary Fund, a U.S. official told on Wednesday.

"There are a lot of people talking about that. I think the European Commission has talked about that," said the U.S. official, commenting on enlarging the European stability fund. "It is up to the Europeans. We will certainly support using the IMF in these circumstances."

"There are obviously some severe market problems," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "In May, it was Greece. This is Ireland and Portugal. If there is contagion that's a huge problem for the global economy."

While reluctant to dictate to Europe how it should address the unfolding debt crisis, the U.S. government is growing increasingly concerned about the global fallout of Europe's debt crisis. A U.S.

Treasury envoy has been sent to Europe for talks. The IMF, whose biggest single shareholder is the United States, has now contributed 250 billion euros or one third of the EFSF financial rescue mechanism.