Key dates of the euro crisis

(BRUSSELS) - Here are key dates in the debt crisis besetting the 17-nation eurozone:

-- 2009 --

- October 16: Greece's incoming Socialist Prime Minister, George Papandreou, warns that his country's finances are in "a state of emergency."

- December: The world's three main credit ratings agencies, Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's, downgrade Greece's debt. Papandreou outlines massive public spending cuts.

-- 2010 --

- January 29: Spain announces a three-year austerity plan to save 50 billion euros ($71 billion) and reduce a public debt that reached 11.4 percent of GDP in 2009, nearly four times the eurozone limit of 3.0 percent.

- February 3: Greece adopts a savings plan, approved by the European Commission, which puts the country under surveillance.

- March 8: Portugal announces an austerity programme to reduce its record public deficit of 9.3 percent of GDP.

- March 30: Ireland pumps in billions of extra euros to prop up its troubled banking system.

- April 23: Shut out of the bond market by prohibitive interest rates, Greece appeals for financial help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

- May 2: Greece becomes the first eurozone country to receive a bailout as the EU and IMF announce a 110-billion-euro rescue in exchange for harsh austerity measures by the Greek government.

- May 5: Violent protests break out in Greece as anger at brutal spending cuts boil over during a general strike. Three people are killed in a fire caused by a Molotov cocktail. Parliament adopts the austerity plan a day later.

- May 10: The EU and IMF create a financial stability fund worth 750 billion euros to serve as a lifeline for eurozone any nation in financial trouble.

- May 12-13: Spain and Portugal announce new austerity measures.

- July 29: Italy's parliament approves an unpopular austerity package totalling 25 billion euros aimed at bringing the public deficit under control and reassuring markets.

- September 30: Ireland's public deficit is revised to a record 32 percent of GDP, the largest deficit for a eurozone member since the euro was created in 1999 because of the funds it has had to spend propping up its broken banks.

- November 24: Ireland unveils a 15-billion-euro austerity package required to unlock an international bailout, slashing public sector pay and pensions, but refusing to raise corporation tax.

- November 28: The EU and IMF agree on an 85-billion-euro aid package for Ireland, with Dublin contributing 17.5 billion euros of the money by raiding its pension reserve fund and other domestic cash resources.

-- 2011 --

- March 23: Portugal's parliament rejects a new round of austerity measures, precipitating the fall of the minority socialist government.

- April 6: After resisting pressure to seek a bailout, outgoing Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates finally asks for external help.

- May 5: Portugal agrees with the EU and IMF on a 78-billion-euro bailout in exchange for an austerity programme.

- June 24: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says his country needs a second bailout of similar size as the 2010 rescue.

- June 29-30: In Greece, parliament adopts 28.4 billion euros in budget cuts and tax hikes, as well as a privatisation programme, demanded by creditors in exchange for the release of the next installment of its 2010 bailout. Protests outside the legislature turn violent.

- July 2 and July 6: The eurozone and IMF clear the way for Greece to receive the next tranche of its bailout, 12 billion euros, and stave off imminent bankruptcy.

- July 11: Eurozone finance ministers agree to beef up their rescue fund, with a current lending capacity of 440 billion euros, to prevent debt crisis contagion. They put off a decision on a second bailout of Greece amid divisions over the participation of the private sector.

- July 14: Italy's borrowing costs soar to record highs as parliament rushes to adopt radical budget cuts to stave off debt crisis contagion.