France and Germany have agreed on a eurozone rescue mechanism for Greece, giving a major role to the International Monetary Fund while leaving members to lend most of the funds needed if Athens cannot raise them on capital markets.

The 16 eurozone leaders were meeting in Brussels last night to finalise the deal agreed earlier by France and Germany on the principles of any rescue.

Under the accord reached between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Athens would, in the event of “very serious difficulties”, receive co-ordinated bilateral loans from its eurozone partners as well as IMF assistance. The majority of the money would come from the eurozone. According to a person close to the talks, the proportion of funding might be one-third IMF and two-thirds eurozone.