German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that Europe will need a decade to clean up its finances and emerge from the current debt crisis.
In comments posted on her website on November 5, she said that resolving the debt crisis "is a path which calls for much effort, and along which we will have to advance step by step."
The comments come a day after the end of the G20 summit in Cannes, France, which was was dominated by the eurozone's debt issue.
The G20 summit, which brought together the leaders of the world's most powerful economies, agreed to reinforce the International Monetary Fund and give it oversight of Italy's budget-cutting program, among other measures aimed at restoring confidence in Italy and other heavily indebted eurozone member states.
compiled from agency reports